Protest for dead koalas

Community groups have staged a demonstration in Gordon, calling for greater protection of the local koala population after the deaths of three koalas on the Western Freeway.

Extinction Rebellion Ballarat and a number of other groups headed to Cartons Road Overpass on Friday 28 May, many wearing koala costumes and staging a ‘die in’ to symbolise the untimely deaths of the koalas.

The demonstration follows almost two years of campaigning from advocates, who have been calling for the relocation of koalas at the Cartons Road blue gum plantation.

Campaign advocates say they only learned of the two most recent koala deaths in April from a witness not directly involved in the campaign.

Local carer and President of Ballarat Wildlife Rehabilitation and Conservation, Jess Robertson, was involved in the early consultation process, and said the advocates’ calls for the koalas to be relocated before logging at the plantation began had fallen on deaf ears.

“We told the landowner, DEECA officers and the plantation company that this would happen, and we were right. Due to the inaction from local MPs, the environment minister and the conservation regulator, three koalas are now dead. Three koalas is worth a hundred in a place where they have almost disappeared,” Ms Robertson said.

“DEECA officers are clearly advising based on what is happening in the southwest of Victoria where tens of thousands of koalas live in plantations, but their reasoning has no relevance here. They could have saved these koalas, but they chose not to. Koalas breed between spring and summer, and this is when they move.

“We knew those koalas would not stay put, which is why we requested the safety fence that CHW [Central Highlands Water] took down in January. It’s yet another tragedy for our local wildlife played out by decision makers who demonstrate no interest in protecting them.”

Extinction Rebellion Ballarat also staged a protest on Friday 17 March at CHW’s Ballarat Office in Wendouree.

In a statement prior to that protest, the group said it had “no objection to the blue gums being harvested and we understand the need to expand the sewerage works in Gordon to cater for the increasing population”.

“Additionally we applaud the plans of Central Highlands Water to remediate and revegetate the land once the blue gums are removed. However, we have concerns for the safety of the animals,” the statement read.