Media Releases

December 17, 2021

Koala lovers are celebrating today after almost 200 hectares of prime habitat near Port Macquarie were put beyond the reach of property developers.  NSW Environment Minister Matt Kean announced this morning the government, with a $3.5 million contribution from Koala Conservation Australia, had bought a 194ha block of forest next to Lake Innes...

December 16, 2021

Water Minister Melinda Pavey’s announcement she intends to issue floodplain licences before Christmas [1] recklessly disregards most of the 25 recommendations and 14 findings of yesterday’s parliamentary committee report. [2]  “Ms Pavey hardly had a moment to consider the Floodplain Harvesting committee’s report before declaring in the media that...

December 15, 2021

Vales Point power station will continue to be a major source of respiratory illness for children on the Central Coast after the Environment Protection Authority granted the facility a further five-year exemption from air quality standards.   While the EPA did marginally tighten standards in the licence, the changes will...

December 15, 2021

The NSW Government should implement all the recommendations of the Legislative Council’s Floodplain Harvesting report to ensure the sustainable and prudent management of one of the state’s largest water resources. [1]   “We welcome the key findings of the report and urge the government to adopt all 25 recommendations,” Nature Conservation Council Chief Executive Jacqui...

December 14, 2021

The Land and Environment Court begins a five-day hearing from today (Tuesday) into whether the Redbank power station in the Hunter Valley can substitute wood for coal and be subject to no further assessments.  The Nature Conservation Council of NSW, North East Forest Alliance and the Australian Forest and Climate Alliance are scheduled to give...

December 10, 2021

The conservation movement welcomes the intention of the NSW Government’s draft Design and Place SEPP to make the planning system better serve the needs of people and the environment.    They warned, however, that government will have to resist the developer wrecking ball.  Total Environment...

December 02, 2021

A coalition of concerned leaders and organisations has called on the NSW government to take urgent action to rectify out-of-date fisheries laws that result in unjust prosecutions of Aboriginal fishers. The call comes after the NSW Legislative Council passed a resolution last week supporting...

December 01, 2021

The heartbreaking story of koala Ella in today’s Sydney Morning Herald is a stark demonstration of the failure of the NSW Government’s environment laws. [1]  “Koala Ella’s plight is shocking but sadly it is not an isolated incident — it’s happening right across NSW,” Nature Conservation Council Acting Chief Executive Jacqui Mumford said.    “Wildlife is being constantly harassed and...

November 25, 2021

The NSW Government must explain why it ignored the advice of the independent Natural Resources Commission and kept logging forests in regions hit hardest by the 2019-20 Black Summer Bushfires.   The government has kept the Commission’s report secret since June 2020 but extracts have been published today by...

November 24, 2021

The Nature Conservation Council welcomes the finalisation of the Kosciuszko National Park Wild Horse Heritage Management Plan, which aims to reduce feral horse numbers by up to 80 per cent. [1]  “Horses in Kosciuszko National Park have been doing untold damage to iconic landscapes for...