Koalas fate in data debacle | Gympie News | Local News in Gympie

A LEAKED email forwarded to the Australian Koala Foundation (AKF) from a senior member of the Environment department in May of this year, included a comment that they would prefer to use “data other than AKF” to support the listing of koalas as a vulnerable species.

The email was allegedly sent by one of Environment Minister Peter Garret’s senior staff members.

According to AKF Chief Executive Officer, Deborah Tabart, the email contained a series of internal emails that discussed what other data, besides the AKF’s, the Government could use to make a decision on whether or not to list the koala during the next scientific assessment.

“The internal dialogue between bureaucrats arose after the AKF raised concerns that aside from mortality figures, no new data existed since the last time the committee met to decide the koala’s fate in 2006,” she said.

“The pinnacle of the e-mail was a comment made by one of the Minister’s senior staff which said: ‘There would be a certain satisfaction to listing the koala using data other than AKF’ but also acknowledged there was next to no other data available.”

“This is highly alarming. Not only does it undermine the 20-years-worth of quality data that the AKF has produced, but it proves that the Threatened Species Scientific Committee (TSSC) and the Department – who ostensibly are supposed to make a scientific decision on the fate of the koala – do not have any definitive data of their own to make an informed decision.

“The contents of the email show clearly the Minister’s department has no data to counter AKF’s research. The AKF is confident it was also like this in 2006,” Ms Tabart said.

“Minister Garrett has no other option but to use his powers to make an immediate listing of the koala until his department can prove why it shouldn’t be protected.

“Currently the Minister is saying he will not list (the koala) until September 2010.

“We believe that will be too late for many koala populations in Australia.”

Ms Tabart said AKF’s first hand knowledge “gives us certainty behind our estimates that the mainland koala population of Australia is as low as 43,000 and no greater than 80,000 ...”