Koala Woman Says

While this electorate so close to Brisbane, there are three large patches of bush: Daisy Hill, Karawatha Forest and the Glider Forest at Larapinta. Daisy Hill was famous for its Koalas and is still the source of most Koalas seen in neighbouring suburbs like Springwood. In fact, the vast majority of Koalas in Rankin are on the Daisy Hill side of the Gold Coast Motorway but, like most places in southeast Queensland, sightings have dropped off in the last 25 years even though there are various Koala Plans and legislation in place. They have done little to stem the tide of dramatic loss in Koala numbers. The Queensland Government has refused to release any estimates since 2010 but the decline was about 70% over the previous 14 years. Between 2004 and 2013 there were 646 records in Rankin, since 2020 there have been 15. The Commonwealth’s Vulnerable (2012) and then Endangered (2022) Listings have done nothing to reduce the gradual disappearance of Koalas in southeast Queensland. We need a national Koala Protection Act!

Elsewhere in Rankin there might be a few Koalas on the western side of the Motorway at Slacks Creek and Meadowbrook, and a few in the Berrinba Wetlands area. There are no more than a half a dozen in the Karawatha Forest.

Will he Act or Axe?