The delight in the Illawarra community, about finding a breeding colony of koala’s in Mt Kembla, show that Baird is out of step with his proposed weakening of the native vegetation laws.

Last week we saw chief scientific advisor, Professor Hugh Possingham, quit in protest over chainsaw Mike’s proposals. 

Cath Blakey, Greens candidate for Wollongong said “Baird’s proposed changes to biodiversity conservation laws are a red flag for land clearing. If I’m elected by the people of Wollongong on Saturday, I’ll fight against this attack on native vegetation. We need more scientists in parliament, not just leaving the management of our state up to lawyers in the Baird government”.

“Last week we saw chief scientific advisor, Professor Hugh Possingham, quit in protest over chainsaw Mike’s proposals. Hugh sounded the alarm that if NSW increases land clearing, we’ll see an increase in extinctions."

“At present rates, NSW loses about 20,000 hectares of native vegetation a year through clearing, this rate could soar under the proposed changes.  These laws have little to do with biodiversity conservation and everything to do with fast-tracking land clearing and property development.”

“There is so much excitement and delight in the Illawarra, that koala’s are back at Mt Kembla, after hunting and landclearing in the Great Depresession lead to their disappearance. It really shows that environmental protection and the regeneration of vegetation can have big wins for our iconic threatened species like Koalas.”

“We need to protect and restore native vegetation, not clear it, for the sake of our native wildlife, but also to protect soil, filter water and storing carbon”.