The Koala Protection Act In Australia Has Even Sparked Political Conflict

Photo illustration (Craig Garrett / Unsplash)

JAKARTA - The koala protection policy in Australia has triggered a political crisis in the country's most populous state, New South Wales. One of the parties in the coalition threatens to leave the alliance. They view the policy as against the rights of farmers.

The situation heated up the day before, when the New South Wales Nationals Party raised objections to a ban on clearing land in habitats deemed important to koalas. The law was enacted in December 2019, amid fierce wildfires that have killed thousands of animals.

Members of the Nationals Party focused on rural life, who hold joint power with the Liberal Party, are planning to overturn the law to ban land clearing. They say the law deprives farmers of the right to manage their own land.

Liberal members, the larger coalition partners, stick to the law. They encouraged the Nationals to say they would quit the ministry en masse. Surely that is a move that puts a state of 7.5 million people in chaos as it grapples with the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, leader and Deputy Prime Minister of State John Barilaro said the Nationals would remain in their role. This was conveyed after the Prime Minister of State Gladys Berejiklian assured him that the law would be on the agenda for talks at future cabinet meetings.

"We have made compromises about when, he made a compromise about it being an agenda item," Barilaro told reporters.

Berejiklian said in a joint statement with Barilaro that "the Liberal Coalition and the NSW Nationlas remains", including "a commitment to support the cabinet convention and process". The Nationals Party holds 13 seats in the NSW lower house while the Liberal Party holds 35 seats, giving the coalition a majority in the 93-member assembly.

Previously there were reports that Koalas would be extinct before 2050 in NSW unless there is urgent government intervention to prevent habitat loss. Habitat loss is the biggest threat to the survival of koalas in New South Wales, but unfortunately logging and clearing of habitat continues.

The report also said this habitat loss had been exacerbated by the wildfires that occurred during 2019-2020, with around 24% of koala habitat on public land affected. In some areas, as much as 81% of koala habitat has been burned. The report also explains that climate change is exacerbating threats to species such as drought and fires.

"Given the significant scale of fire losses to many local populations, the committee believes the koalas will become extinct in New South Wales long before 2050 and that urgent government intervention is needed to protect their habitat and address all other threats to their continued survival," said the report. that.