Renee Coffey (Griffith, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Griffith is lucky to have an urban koala population, which extends through the bush corridors connecting Whites Hill Reserve to Toohey Forest. Our colony is part of our community, and their presence as a reminder of just how lucky we are to live in a city that still has pockets of rich living biodiversity.

In the last term, the former environment minister, Tanya Plibersek, and I visited the Whites Hill Reserve, where she had previously announced $76 million in funding over four years from the Saving Koalas Fund to support habitat rehabilitation. And I know our current minister for the environment and water, Senator Murray Watt, has also visited the reserve.

In May, I participated in the Great Koala Count with B4C, in partnership with UQ, at Whites Hill Reserve, where we spotted 22 koalas. We know koala numbers are decreasing due to habitat loss and fragmentation, road mortality, dog attacks, disease and climate change. In my community, we are fortunate to have dedicated volunteers who will sit on the roadside overnight when koalas are close and in possible danger. Devastatingly, last week we lost eight koalas in our area. These deaths are heartbreaking, and I share the grief that our community feels.

Our local rescuers are exhausted, sleep deprived and devastated from this past week's losses. I thank the council for the progress that has been made at Whites Hill, with the overpass and fencing, and I've been in touch with our local councillor and our state member to discuss what more can be done to support our local populations. As we approach breeding season, I urge our wonderful community to drive slowly, leave a gap and scan roadsides for wildlife, especially between dusk and dawn. I want to acknowledge the hard work of the Bulimba Creek Catchment Coordinating Committee, Koala Rescue Brisbane South, the Friends of Whites Hill Reserve and also the Queensland Koala Society and the Save the Koalas and Wallabies of Whites Hill.

Koalas are more than just a national symbol; they are a vital part of our local environment. Their survival is closely connected to the health of our ecosystems, and, when we protect koalas, we're also protecting the broader environment we share.