Voters in 16 electorates along the east coast and in South Australia can help save the koala this election according to the CEO of the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF), Deborah Tabart OAM.
“In our latest assessment based on $8m worth of research, the AKF has identified how many koalas and how much habitat remains in each Federal Electorate. The results even scared me and I deal with these issues every day and have done so for 25 years,” Ms Tabart said.
“Our country has a shocking history of species extinction and managing the environment. Our governments have historically struggled with the complexity and don’t cope or worse still, don’t want to cope. This is highlighted by their lack of knowledge and opinions of current numbers which can all be reviewed on our ‘Act or Axe’ website.”
Ms Tabart says the AKF wants to see a Koala Protection Act to protect the koala and its habitat.
“It is ironic to me that our election falls on the same date the last Tasmanian tiger died in 1936. His name was Ben and his species was only protected by a careless government three months before his passing. I wonder if the next government will care for the koala before it’s too late,” Ms Tabart said.
There are 127 electorates (from 150) that are in the Koala’s original geographic range and the AKF has an opinion on each of them.
Koalas are extinct in Mr Rudd’s and Mr Abbott’s suburban electorates in Brisbane and Sydney respectively.
“On the Australian Koala Foundation’s Act or Axe page you can read what our scientists think of each electorate,” says Ms Tabart.
The seats identified by the AKF as being of importance in this election are:
- Corangamite, Flynn, Indi, Maranoa, Mayo, Murray and Wannon with over 5,000 koalas left, and
- Ballarat, Capricornia, Cowper, Fadden, Gippsland, Lyne, McEwen, New England and Parkes with potentially sustainable populations but only around 1,000 koalas remaining.
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