Linda Sparrow, President Bangalow Koalas
Today’s performance by the National Party in NSW will go down in history of utter arrogance and total contempt for our vulnerable koalas and other wildlife. The major cause of the decline of koalas is habitat loss, and it can not be dismissed by ‘if a farmer or a private landholder wants to take a few logs off to have a livelihood…’.
With widespread clearing of habitat on private land and the ongoing logging we need to protect their habitat. Let alone the massive loss of habitat from the unprecedented bush fires.
John Barilaro your comment today that ‘the National Party stands for a thriving koala population and wants to see the koala population double’ is not supported by the actions you are now taking. Saying one thing and continuing to support unchecked land clearing since the new Native Vegetation clearing codes were introduced in March 2019 – 51,000 hectares of cleared for agriculture.
It appears the National Party has been on another planet for the last couple of years and not listened to, seen, or understood what the majority of Australians are asking for… protection of our environment and our wildlife.
Here in the Northern Rivers Bangalow Koalas has been busy creating and connecting koala habitat to form a koala wildlife corridor from Byron Bay and surrounds out towards Tenterfield, north to the Queensland border and south towards Grafton. The majority of our landholders are farmers. We are in a regional area and farmers far and wide in this area are jumping on board to protect and save our koalas. I believe you are out of touch with the very people you claim to be representing.
May you all hold your heads in shame.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
