DEAR News Of The Area,

Last week an article was published about land clearing titled “Unsustainable” (NOTA, 12 August, 2022).

I would love to add to that some facts about what the NSW Liberals and Nationals have done to Australian forests and koalas.

The Berejiklian Government passed laws that allowed 99 per cent of identified koala habitats on private land to be bulldozed.

The NSW Liberals and Nationals got rid of Labor’s Native Vegetation Act, increasing land clearing by 1,300 per cent.

NSW Liberals and Nationals passed down the responsibility of protecting koalas to local councils but didn’t give them money or manpower to do so.

Stephen Bromhead, a NSW Nationals MP, has accepted $19,350 in donations from the Stacks family which operates a property development company based out of the Mid North Coast.

Three directors working for the Stacks family were charged and pleaded guilty to killing endangered fauna and they were each charged $5000.

The Stacks family also has allegedly had contact with the NSW Nationals about koala policy.

The NSW Liberals and Nationals have cut National Parks funding by 27 per cent, have cut the number of rangers from 289 in 2011 to 193 in 2020 and have cut the number of people that make plans for hazard reduction from 36 under Labor to 10.

All of this happens but the Murdoch press covers it up.

So I encourage The News of the Area Coffs Coast, along with its great coverage of other issues, to also cover these disgraceful acts on Australian national treasures.

Regards,
Andrew FISHER,
Toormina.