Koala Woman Says

This is a small number of koalas given the size of the electorate but most of the better low-land habitat has been cleared for agriculture. It is also the largest wood and pulp production area in Victoria. Because the koala is not listed under Commonwealth laws in Victoria, the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) has no obligation to take into account koala-friendly sustainable logging as part of their accreditation process, so logging companies also do not have to meet any sort of sustainable logging prescriptions. While VicForests has been forced to cease logging, now the logging companies are hammering extensive areas of private forest with little scrutiny. The national Koala Protection Act would provide oversight so we can see what is happening. South Gippsland includes the Strzelecki Ranges Koalas, long recognised as only population in Victoria that wasn’t exterminated by the fur trade in the early 20th Century.

Elsewhere there are Koalas at Golden Beach, Loch Sport, Raymond Island near Paynesville and the Bruthen-Buchan area northwards to Gelantipy. Half the bush in this electorate was burnt in January 2021. Koalas are occasionally seen at Mallacoota; 18 were rescued from the fire and have recovered well since release. I can live with this estimate, but would love the community to get a much more accurate count.

Will he Act or Axe?