Making a difference

I MOVED to Toowoomba for work 18 months ago, yes right when Covid19 began.

I started a new role at USQ and before I knew it Australia was in lockdown, and I was working from home. I went a little stir crazy being new in town, so I decided I would seek out some community groups to volunteer and meet people.

Fate had it that I found out that a branch of the Wilderness Society was being founded in Toowoomba, the first inland group in Queensland.

I was surprised to learn that there are more than 1000 residents who are Wilderness Society allies and was even more amazed, when manning our first stall at the Windmill Markets, that people were so openly generous of their support for local koala communities under threat since the recent droughts and bushfires.

We raised needed funds for koala fodder trees; some have already been purchased and planted, and we are planning for a large-scale planting in the coming months. It feels great to participate with a group that is actively making a difference on a local level.

On a national level, the Toowoomba Wilderness Society team is working with other teams around Australia to strengthen our Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act.

The EPBC Act provides a legal framework to protect and manage nationally and internationally important flora, fauna, ecological communities, and heritage places. It is Australia’s key piece of environmental legislation, and according to a recent review commissioned by the government, it is failing to address the current extinction and threatened species crisis.

The Samuel Review is deeply concerning, and I would urge you to read it. We need to fight hard across Toowoomba, where we see and feel the impacts of bad decisions in the decline of species just like the koala, to ensure the messages in the report are got.

In our campaign to date we have visited and written to Garth Hamilton, in an effort to be heard with voting on the extremely significant National Standards and Assurances Bill set to occur in the Senate at any moment.

If the bill gets passed, we will see the Federal Government hand decision-making powers over to the states with very few overriding protections in place.

Fingers crossed our parliamentarians will vote in favour of adding the additional layers of protection recommended in the Samuel report. Most importantly, fingers crossed they will support the set-up of an independent review body who can assess development and project applications before they are approved.

YVONNE ROSE, Toowoomba