Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Education) | Hansard source

At home in Moorooka, on my daily walk, I meander through Toohey Forest, lovely bushland just 10 kilometres from the CBD. So I was very pleased to hear koalas have now been listed as endangered by the federal environment minister. The coalition accepted the recommendation of the Threatened Species Scientific Committee that the koala populations of Queensland, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory have their conservation status upgraded. I welcome the upgraded protection status of koalas, but this national recovery plan was due in 2015. It's now 2022. It's now six years overdue. When will Australians see a recovery plan for our beloved koalas?

When Labor was last in government, the environment minister listed koala populations in Queensland as vulnerable under national environment law. We also put in place the national koala conservation and management strategy, the one the coalition didn't bother to renew. Over the past decade, koala populations have been decimated by bushfires and loss of habitat and smashed by climate change. I'm especially concerned about our koala populations because we have a population in Toohey Forest—not that I see them very often—and I'm committed to securing a koala bridge over Toohey Road to let our koalas move between the two patches of Toohey Forest. It is not a cheap project, but a national icon like the koala is definitely worth preserving.

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