Koala Woman Says

The western part of this electorate is too dry and hot for Koalas, and the Koala range is contracting eastwards from grazing country to cropping country around Moree. There are very few trees in crop paddocks! There were Koalas around Walgett but these seem to have disappeared as well and from along the Darling River. The Pilliga Forests – the largest forest in inland NSW – once had thousands, but drought and fire have reduced the population to no more than 50 in the last 25 years, and Coal Seam Gas wells and the Inland Rail will probably finish them off. There are a few left between Moree and Croppa Creek and we know landclearing has had an effect on this population. Koalas in the Warrumbungles were wiped out in the 2013 wildfire. There are Koalas in the Maules Creek area where a new coalmine has commenced construction. They will be gone soon. Climate change is probably the biggest threat to Koalas in this electorate, and in 30 years or so we will be lucky to have any left.

When we think about this electorate, we are talking about “Gunnedah, Koala Capital of the World”, which was moved into Parkes in the last redistribution. Koala Capital for how long? Gunnedah could soon become the Coal Capital of the World. The approved Shenhua coal mine has good habitat with perhaps a couple of hundred Koalas, but this is all lost in the debate about the mine’s potential effects on the “food bowl of NSW”. It was proposed to relocate these Koalas as the mine goes ahead. Where were they to be dumped? To “offset areas” which probably already have their fair share of Koalas, for example Breeza State Forest. How can a State Forest be nominated as an offset area? Offsets don’t work, and translocations aren’t successful. Thankfully, Shenhua abandoned the project. Luckily, the farmers bought their land back at 36% discount. We hope the farmers do a better job at looking after Koalas than Shenhua had “planned”.

The Gunnedah population was halved during a heat wave in 2009, with climate change we can expect to see increases in the number of heatwaves. Indeed, there is a continuing decline in the Gunnedah Koala population, with chlamydia now spreading rapidly through the remaining population. There were only 78 records between 2020 – 2023. Looks like Gunnedah won’t be the Koala Capital for much longer. 

Will he Act or Axe?