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Mayo

Koala Woman Says

Kangaroo Island is in this electorate. The tragic bushfire of January 2000 burnt half the island, and an estimated 50% of the Island’s Koalas were killed. And again in 2019-2020 40% of the island was burnt with less than 20% of Koalas surviving. On top of this, many more Koalas were killed as fire-affected blue gum plantations were cleared. Within two weeks the South Australian Government wrote and implemented a new management plan. This reactive approach is typical of both the South Australian and Victorian Governments and never offers any long-term solutions. Kangaroo Island has clouded the koala conservation debate for the last 30 years. I visited Kangaroo Island about 10 years ago, and the South Australian Government intended to continue plans to sterilise them to extinction because they were never there in the first place. And we remember back in 2017 when there was yet another proposal to cull Koalas on the island.  Before both fires, the Kangaroo Island population was estimated at 50,000 and they are all genetically identical. With the amount of suitable habitat that was on the Island we can’t see it anything like this number even with all the blue gum plantations.

On the mainland this electorate includes the eastern Adelaide Hills which were burnt by a fire in January 2015, killing many Koalas. Vehicle strike, dog attacks and disease are also big problems as they are in other South Australian electorates. What is the disease? It doesn’t seem to be Chlamydia, Koalas treated by vets after the fire didn’t have it. It seems to be kidney disease caused by poor diet and immuno-deficiency, a result of in-breeding. Remember, most of these Koalas came from Kangaroo Island, and those 18 founder Koalas originally came from Victoria. Climate change will only make this worse, perhaps the Government needs to look at planting a wider variety of food trees which will be more resilient to climate change. The number of sightings in the Hills has remained fairly constant over the last 10 years. Maybe the Koalas have worked something out without the help of the South Australian Government. And of course, the Commonwealth Government isn’t interested. A national Koala Protection Act would change that.

Member for Mayo

The Hon Rebekha Sharkie MP
Centre Alliance
Rebekha.Sharkie.MP@aph.gov.au

@MakeMayoMatter

PO Box 1601 Mt Barker SA 5251

Will she Act or Axe?

Koala Numbers

Estimated AKF Koala Population: Mainland: 3400-4000 Kangaroo Island: 2500-3000

Estimated Koala Habitat left: 35.4%

Estimated South Australian Government Population: 200,000

The South Australian Government opposed the protection of the koala and there is no Federal protective legislation in place.

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