This is a story about a NSW government department and agency failing to produce any documents on which they have claimed their koala strategy is based. That’s right, nothing is being produced by the NSW Environment Protection Authority!
What is an SO52? It is the same as an order for discovery in a Court Case, but here it is the Parliament doing discovery on the NSW Public Service. The NSW Legislative Council recently voted under Standing Order 52 for Papers on:
Part A includes all documents created between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2023 that record koala scats and koalas in pre-harvest reviews or surveys conducted by or for Forestry Corporation of NSW in the areas of New South Wales state forests now designated koala hubs.
A lot of documents were provided by the Forestry Corporation of NSW (State Forests). What their documents disclosed was the thoroughness and incredible detail in their pre-harvest surveys
Part B required all documents relating to koala scats and koalas in pre-harvest reviews or surveys in the areas of New South Wales state forests now designated as koala hubs, provided by Forestry Corporation to the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, and the Environment Protection Authority.
No documents were provided by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water or by the Environment Protection Authority
Failure to return documents on Part B is strange
On 11 September 2023, the Hon Penny Sharpe, Minister for the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and the Environment Protection Authority issued a Ministerial Direction. It said in part:
“to consider making necessary improvements to protection measures, including through potential amendments of Coastal Integrated Forestry Operation Approval Protocols, to ensure that koala hubs (critical multi-generational resident koalas populations and their habitats) within the proposed Great Koala National Park assessment area are protected.”
In due course, the NSW EPA made changes to the Coastal Integrated Forestry Operations Approval dealing with ‘koala hubs’.
One of the long-term instructions from the NSW EPA to the Forestry Corporation of NSW was to be advised of the number of koala scats found under trees in areas proposed to be harvested in their pre-harvest surveys. It’s understood this happened and that the aggregated records still exist. The data provided to the NSW EPA was entered into the BioNet Atla,s and each scat record was entered as representing a single koala count.
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment, and Water lodged a document related to the BioNet Atlas. For the five-year period covered in the Order to Produce, only an A4 page in horizontal format, double-sided for entries into the Bio Net Atlas. Some of these entries appear to be vegetation surveys.
An email between two Departmental officers in July 2024 (a year ago) makes interesting reading as it is written by a senior wildlife data officer: “Forest Corp is under some pressure in the media. There are risks to the government, particularly if the regulatory department is perceived to be too lenient to State Forests.
In this context, I believe we hold the line that BioNet Atlas is apolitical (emphasis added) and that validation processes for BIONET records are to be concerned with record accuracy and not deviate into questions of trespass”.
This email reveals that the BIONET Atlas is political and is used by the public service for self-justification.
The fact that anyone can enter data, yes ,anyone, and there is no requirement for validation of sightings or information provided, rings alarm bells scientifically.
The NSW Government Principal Research Scientist in forest ecology, Dr Bradley Law, has been utilising more sophisticated technology, including sound meters and radio collar tracking. Additionally, the NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service used infrared drones in 2024. This exercise sighted over 12000 koalas in a small assessment area on the north coast. A better frequency of sightings in State Forests than in NSW National Parks.
This issue of the science, or lack of underpinning, the Koala Hubs! I use the word science advisedly as Minister Sharpe has repeatedly stood in Parliament and said her decisions are based on science.
When the vote was taken on the SO52, Minister Sharpe supported the Notice to Produce based on the issue of science.
But nothing was produced
What does that say?
There is no science backing the koala hub and the Great Koala National Park? (The Hubs make up 10% of the maximum area of the GKNP.)
Just to make sure the further requests to produce documents have been made
What does all this mean? It means the GKNP, koala hubs, and the EPA’s actions are political.
It is just all old-fashioned politics to service and placate the Green lobby!
