Queensland Koala Conservation Collective

07/08/2026

Please take 10 minutes to kick back & listen to one of our favourite people speaking for the environment - and then call Murray Watt - Senator for Queensland and ask him to enact the EPBC for Woogaroo Forest, for the endangered wildlife and for future generations.

This website and podcast acknowledges the Traditional Owners on which they are produced, and pays respects to Elders, past, present and emerging

06/08/2026

👉Please sign this petition which requires the state to respond
💲 If nobody in government is responsible for protecting koalas, why are they getting paid?

BACKGROUND:
❗More than 600 koala habitat trees were cleared for an additional sports oval under the authority of a Ministerial Infrastructure Designation (MID) which is meant for critical community infrastructure.
🌳These trees were cleared under the assertion of being low value but tracking shows one koala used these trees 50% of her time while other koalas are seen regularly including 2 joeys who have less options when they disperse from mum.
⚖️A long list of conditions was attached to this clearing to “minimise impacts”.

JUST ONE OF THE ISSUES:
Community members have raised concerns as feel that some of the conditions aren't being observed. But nobody is taking responsibility.
❌Not the state or the minister who signed off on it. They say this is a council issue
❌Not the council - they say this is the state’s party and they weren’t invited.
❌Nobody appears to be monitoring those conditions, enforcing them or taking the community concerns seriously.

So seriously…
🙉If nobody is responsible, why are they getting paid?
🤷‍♀️Why are taxpayers paying to have concerns shrugged off?
🗣️How can endangered koalas lose their homes and nobody is accountable while the community is left shouting into a void?

⚠️ This is bigger than one project. It’s a systemic failure.

Also of concern is similar patterns in:
🏟️Olympics related developments not subject to key legislation
🏡Priority Development Areas (PDAs) that which also bypasses protection
🏛️New legislation expanding state powers over private property

😭And that’s not counting the everyday exemptions and loopholes under Planning Legislation that allow koala habitat to be destroyed for multiple things.
📉We’re yet to see if the situation gets better or worse with the state’s koala conservation strategy which expired last year and ignores most of Queensland’s koalas.

❓If conditions aren’t monitored for one MID, what confidence do we have that conditions will be monitored for any of these unilateral state decisions?

🐨Queensland’s koalas are endangered. Their habitat is shrinking. The very protections meant to safeguard them are being circumvented, ignored, or outsourced to nobody.
Government reps playing a game of “not my job” isn't good enough
⚠️ This is a system designed for nobody to be accountable and for koalas (and other species) to be failed.
🔍What is going on?
🔍Who is responsible?
🔍Why can ministers override protections without oversight?
🔍Why can’t community members get answers?

✍️ Please sign the petition to find out who is responsible, to take the community’s concerns seriously and to update the legislation to prevent any future breakdowns in transparency accountability
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/petition-details/4640-26

🐾 Our koalas deserve better. They can’t speak for themselves. But we can.

06/08/2026

Please take a minute to email & call to save this vital habitat

📞 URGENT: We need your voice - literally. Call Minister Murray Watt's office THIS WEEK.

☎️ Call Murray Watt's Ministerial office:
(02) 6277 7920

The decision on Woogaroo Forest's fate is imminent - expected within the next couple of weeks. This is it. This is the moment that matters most, and we need to make sure Minister Watt's office cannot ignore how many of us care about this forest. The developer has essentially dismissed all public comments from the submission period.

Here's why calls matter so much:
Every single phone call is officially logged. Politicians track call volumes closely - if an office receives dozens of calls on one issue, they know that represents thousands more people who feel the same way but didn't pick up the phone. A call is worth far more than a like or a share right now.

It's easier than you think. You don't need a script. Keep it brief, keep it respectful, and just say what you feel. Need a hand getting started? We've put together some simple talking points here: 👉 www.savewoogarooforest.com.au/action

📋 What to mention:

You're calling about EPBC referral 2019/8575 – Springview Village 2 & 3 - this is the exact development Minister Watt is making his determination on right now.
Why Woogaroo Forest matters to you, in your own words.
If they suggest you email instead, simply let them know you'd like to be heard by phone and then you can send an email after.

☎️ Call Murray Watt's Ministerial office:
(02) 6277 7920

Email both addresses:
[email protected]
[email protected]

We only need a couple of minutes of your time. If every person who has signed the petition, shared a post, or shown up to an event made one call this week, his office would not be able to look away.

This is the final push and our last chance. Please call - and please share this with everyone you know who cares about Woogaroo.

🌳 Extinction is forever. Let's make sure our voices are too loud to ignore.

01/08/2026

🥰We aren't surprised that our koalas and kangaroos have just topped a global wildlife travel survey!
🌏Explore Worldwide surveyed 2,400 travellers across 12 countries, and the results are a huge win for our incredible native wildlife.

🇦🇺Australia was voted the world’s #1 wildlife destination (38%) - more than triple the votes of runner‑up South Africa (11%).
🐨That's because of our wildlife! From wombats and wallabies to saltwater crocs and quokkas, our biodiversity is unmatched - and adored worldwide.
🌟Even better, two of our most iconic species made the world’s ‘New Big Five’:
🦘 Kangaroo - #3 most‑wishlisted animal to see in the wild (32%)
🐨 Koala - #4 on the global wishlist (30%)
(Only pandas and elephants ranked higher!)

💚These results prove what we already know: Australia’s wildlife is extraordinary, irreplaceable and a major reason travellers choose our country.

🫣How embarrassing that of all of the animals worldwide that people could see, we have two in the top 5 - and one is endangered!
🌳When forests fall, when koala populations decline, when ecosystems are weakened, we don’t just lose wildlife.
💲We risk losing the tourism dollars, jobs and regional prosperity that depend on a thriving natural environment.
⚠️If we want to stay the world’s most sought‑after wildlife destination, our federal, state & local representatives must do better at protecting the habitats that make these encounters possible.
📣Protecting wildlife isn’t just environmental policy, it’s economic common sense.
🌐Australia’s global reputation (and tourism revenue) relies on keeping our native species safe, abundant and thriving.
🔮We can’t afford to let short‑term decisions cost us long‑term national value.
🌏The world loves Australia for its wildlife. Let’s make sure we keep it that way.

01/08/2026

We sadly can't argue with this. It's embarrassing at every level of government and as Aussies. 😔

AUSTRALIA - TERROR NATION FOR ANIMALS

We are reaching a critical time in the future of this ancient land. A land that is rapidly becoming a graveyard for animals and a lonely concrete jungle for humans.

In over 40 years of working to protect wildlife and animals, our mother group Australians for Animals Inc is weeping. Weeping over the cruelty being dished out by the major political parties on sentient beings - suffering that should not be happening in the 21st century. Weeping over the silence of the Greens and conservation organisations who should be opposing animal cruelty. How can ANY group support aerial killing ?

A nation can be judged by the way it treats animals. If Australia is judged, we would be described as a barbaric, cruel nation with 100% justification. Yet the governments keep feeding the propoganda machine, hiding the truth. The stark, horrible truth of what it means to be an animal in Australia.

We weep over the dreadful barbaric cruelty involved in slaughtering brumbies in Kosciuszko National Park. Followed up by dropping carrots laced with 1080 poison which will cause further painful dreadful deaths - not only to the remaining horses but to any wildlife that consumes carrots.

The silence over the helicopter shooting of horses, koalas, kangaroos is outrageous. How can any environment organisation/political party justify the cruelty involved in eradicating sentient beings this way ? How do you separate the silence over the helicopter shooting of more than 1000 koalas and at the same time take and appeal for donations for koala protection?

Then there's the heart rending descriptions of koalas, some with joeys, walking round and round in never ending circles their logged shelter and food trees. Trying to climb up the stumps left by the foresetry industry. Dreadfully confused, unable to comprehend where their homes have gone, where to go to find food and shelter.

The koala story is happening in every koala state.

Or the millions of kangaroos shot because they're either in the way, have burnt to death as a result of bushfires or are slaughtered by an industry that wipes out over a million a year.

Or the waterbirds, wounded, suffering, their rescuers facing jail if they try to help.

At the Adelaide national conference, the Labor Party made sure that bill boards calling for an end to native forest logging were taken down.

There was zero discussion about the environment at the national conference.

The silence by political parties ( save for Animal Justice and a sparse few in other parties) is deafening. Australis is being governed by a bunch of sadistic politicians who refuse to condemn or prevent ANY cruelty to animals.

RSPCAs are weak toothless tigers - their failures are stark evidence of the exponential decline of any willingness to prosecute cruelty - particularly cruelty caused by governments.

So who takes up the role ? Who prosecutes the horrific cruelty that is shocking to the majority of Australians? Reality check - No one.

Koala Crisis has no hesitation in condemning conservation groups who supported the helicopter shooting of wild horses and remain silent over the helicopter shooting of more than 1000 koalas.

Sentient beings feel pain, fear, loss, stress, and a fierce need to protect their young, just like us.

How do those who support this exponential cruelty creeping quietly into our legal and political systems sleep at night ?

It's never been more important to question organisations you support financially, to contact your MP/MLC and let them know you will not support animal cruelty and will change your vote/donation unless there's an undertaking to oppose ANY INHUMANE KILLING METHODS. There are solutions !

31/07/2026

🎨When is art not art but a powerful koala conservation message!
🤷‍♀️Who knew that ART would be one our favourite presentations at the 2026 Koala Conference! But that’s because it's so much more!
🌟Margret Meagher, founding Executive Director of Arts and Health Australia, talked about art as one of the most powerful tools for conservation, community engagement, and - for those councils who are just thinking ‘expensive’ - tourism and economic uplift.
🐨The Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail was launched in Port Macquarie in 2014, with 15 fibreglass koalas painted by local artists.
📈Today the trail features more than 90 one metre koalas plus a 2.5 metre giant at Guulabaa and has been recognised through 37 cultural, tourism and business awards.
🛡️One of the originals, Ranger Riley, is a roaming ambassador for threatened species through NSW National Parks.
👥The trail is free and >1 million people see it each year!
🎨Local artists take a blank 'canvas' and create these beautiful pieces of art, all with different inspiration while there is an undercurrent of environmental, cultural and conservation messages.
😊Margret mentioned loving seeing the smiles on people’s faces and even hugging the koalas - that emotional connection is the secret ingredient. We certainly saw this engagement!
🌏But the impact goes far beyond art: cultural tourism, behavioural change, media attention, community pride, economic benefits, environmental awareness and even influence on government policy.
🚶‍♀️As you can see, the strategy worked on us. We planned to see just a couple - but once we started spotting them, admiring the artwork and pondering the messages, we were hooked.
🧭We walked, drove, explored parts of Port we’d never have visited (check out the map as an idea of our travels!). We stopped for coffees. We shopped. We connected with the community. All because of a (beautiful) koala sculpture trail.
🫣Aagh, we don’t want to wait for the 2029 conference to find the rest! Road trip?!

🏙️ Every town and city with koalas could benefit from a strategy like this. 😪Engagement is hard - it takes time, creativity and persistence - but this is one of the most effective awareness tools we’ve ever seen.
💚There were a number of other presentations on awareness & engagement which we’ll share once we compile our notes (3.5 days including half a day online is a LOT).

What can you do?
🖼️If you have koalas in your area and your council doesn’t have a similar strategy that maximises the conservation and community benefits of art, ask them why not!

🖌️If you have any of the sculptures that we missed, or seen any other art that might inspire similar, we'd love you to share the pix, story & location!

Thank you Margret, Australian Centre for Arts and Health and Hello Koalas Sculpture Trail

31/07/2026

Please sign & share. These poor koalas. Not in Qld? While Qld petitions only allow Queenslanders to sign, you can use the petition info to email your support for our koalas to [email protected]

30/07/2026

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.” - T.S. Eliot
👉This was the tone for the presentation by Dr Stephen Van Mil, vet, filmmaker, conservationist and founder & CEO of Wildlife Recovery Australia
⚡While we heard from countless brilliant presenters at the 2026 Koala Conference, this one shook us to our core.

Condensing his poignant message to a social media post won’t do it justice but these are some of our favourite points:
🐨Koalas were listed as endangered four years ago - deplorable.
🐤They're our canary in the coalmine, warning of a much bigger ecological collapse.
👶This is happening under our watch. We are not leaving a good world for our kids and grandkids.
🦘Since European settlement, Australia has wiped out 20% of all mammalian species - the worst record of any country.

Major issues:
🪵Unchecked habitat clearing
💸Lack of funding across the sector
📖Lack of a national framework

🪾Ongoing habitat loss causes vehicle strikes, domestic pet attacks, feral pest impacts, starvation, stress - which increases illness. After rehabilitation, where can wildlife be released? Back to the site of its trauma? What if its home is gone?

🏥Wildlife care is breaking people.
🥼Vets have a high dropout rate & 4x national su***de rate.😪
💔Trauma & death is a daily event in wildlife hospitals. Every animal is sick/injured & 60% die (passing/euthanasia).
🩺Domestic vets are doing their best but don’t have the training, time or funds needed for wildlife.
🤝Rescue, treatment and rehabilitation rely heavily on volunteers and community goodwill. Government knows people will show up - and relies on it.
⛽Carers pay for fuel, food, supplies - everything. Not good enough.
💰In the Byron Bay area, pro bono wildlife work is >$4 million. Wildlife is a government/crown asset, yet the community is doing the work for free.
🧑‍⚕️And this is to treat the symptoms while the cause - habitat destruction is relentless.

🌳The Great Koala National Park was promised - but now contingent on a revenue stream through carbon credits. Conservation shouldn’t depend on profit.
🪓20% of the proposed GKNP has already been logged.
📉NSW Forestry loses $73 million a year - funded by taxpayers - with 200 people on the ground and 350 in head office. What other business could operate like this?

🧠Humans struggle to comprehend mass catastrophe (neglect of scope concept), but one compelling story can move people. People acted more on the image of one koala in the bushfires than on the reality of 3 billion native animals killed.

⚠️The system has failed. It isn’t supporting us or our greatest national asset - wildlife.
🏛️People have lost trust at local, state and federal levels and it's a disgrace that policy makers weren’t in attendance.

📑 A review led by Dr Ken Henry into the Biodiversity Conservation Act was tabled in 2023 - and still no meaningful response or funding.

🦉Wildlife is a national asset yet many native species are at risk.
🦎Too often wildlife is politicised - it must be apolitical and a government responsibility.
🔥🌧️ We’ve just lived through the biggest fires and floods ever seen - including a 1 in 1000-year flood twice in one month.

❤️People care. Communities care. Government doesn’t - It's up to us to make them. Working together to create pressure at a national level that will result in state action. We need a National Wildlife Framework. Traditional owner knowledge and involvement is critical.

Just 2 of the many amazing achievements:
🚐‘Matilda’, the mobile wildlife vet hospital has done incredible work. Ongoing funding is needed. It did a national tour & parked in front of Parliament House which got attention!
🎥He has just made a documentary about the national tour - another push to force action.

This talk was raw, honest and deeply confronting. It reminded us that while communities are fighting with everything they have, the system is not.

And unless leadership steps up - urgently - we risk losing not just koalas, but the wildlife that defines who we are as Australians.

30/07/2026

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28/07/2026

This is shameful Jarrod Bleijie MP

Koala sits on Dreamworld Land approved for Clearing

“This was the first wild koala I had ever seen, and I became quite emotional, only to learn this distressing news a few days later.”

These words came from Karen, who recently travelled to Australia on holiday. Karen was visiting Dreamworld, when wildlife keepers pointed out this beautiful wild koala in the bush just beyond the theme park. Days later, she learned its home had been approved for clearing.

Last week, the Queensland Government approved Dreamworld’s masterplan, allowing the clearing of 42,285 square metres of koala habitat, including 1,072 koala habitat trees. Surveys in 2025 confirmed 68 koalas within a 2-kilometre radius of the site. Approval was given through a ministerial call-in process, bypassing regular assessment processes. It sets a very worrying precedent.

It won’t be long until the only koalas people will experience will be the ones they pay to see in theme parks and zoos :(