DEAR News Of The Area,

THE NSW Premier’s flying visit to Coffs Harbour last Friday week with two Ministers in tow the day before Bob Brown’s visit to the region to promote an anti-logging and Great Koala National Park campaign had all the elements of a propaganda junket.

One of the Ministers by Minns side for the visit was Agriculture Minister Tara Moriarity, who had recently quietly authorised clear felling of a koala hub nearby to where they chose to make their “non-announcement” of the visit .

Despite the cascading evidence of the inadequacy of native forest harvesting prescriptions for threatened species like the koala, the southern greater glider and the Rufous Scrub-bird, the “non announcement” on the day saved not one hectare more of habitat.

Instead it trumpeted the establishment of three Advisory Panels, including forty six community, industry, tourism, union and Aboriginal representatives, to advise the Government on establishing the Great Koala National Park.

Those voluntary participants will, for twelve months or more, be restricted in their public commenting on the Great Koala National Park proposal.

The ”non-announcement” was also accompanied by a request from at least one Minister to stakeholders to keep their comments on the Great National Park out of the media.

The proposed Great Koala National Park is one of the few environmental promises in the NSW Government’s bag as it tries to respond to the multiple requirements of the climate and biodiversity crises.

To so blatantly push to win the day by seeking to steal the weekend’s media limelight from the Bob Brown festival and, at the same time, closing down the public debate on native forest logging and the proposed Great Koala National Park was so futile.

Just suggest that approach to the former Labor environment minister Bob Debus and numerous other former ministers and current MPs who have this week spoken out strongly on the need to end native forest logging.

The Courts will not be silenced either.

Regards,
Ashley LOVE,
Coffs Harbour.