The Northern Rivers community has a long and proud history of standing up for our precious native forests, from the Terania blockades of 1979, the first forest blockades in Australia, through the many campaigns across our region since.
At the Forest Frontline Environmental Forum at Southern Cross University on Saturday 21st March, we heard about the latest campaign, for the creation of the Richmond River Koala Parks (RRKP).
Experts including Dailan Pugh OAM, Dr Steve Phillips, David Milledge, Associate Professor Andrew Brooks and Dr Kristin den Exter made the compelling case for the establishment a series of new National Park reserves linking Bundjalung National Park on the coast to Border Ranges National Park.
The NSW and Australian governments have committed to protecting at least 30% of important bioregions by 2030, and establishment of the RRKP would go a long way towards achieving this for our own special bioregion.
A network of 56,000 ha of current State Forests would protect one of Australia’s biodiversity hotspots, including habitat of over 130 threatened species and critical koala habitat. It would give them a chance to recover from past logging and the recent wildfires, and in particular, protect and restore the large old trees crucial for nesting hollows and food sources.
We also learned that linking the currently fragmented animal populations into one continuous protected sanctuary will help maintain genetic diversity and increase their resilience to threats like a changing climate.
There would be many other benefits too. RRKP would help restore the health of the Richmond River by improving water quality, increasing dry season flows and reducing storm run-off.
It would reduce fire frequency and intensity by allowing forests to regain their natural resilience to fire as they mature. And it would help us address climate change as the recovering forests draw down and store millions of tonnes of CO₂ through natural forest growth.
At this forum, it was evident that we are indeed blessed with many high-qualified and dedicated experts with decades of research to support the consensus case for protecting koalas, other threatened species and our native forests. The science is clear. We know what we need to do. What is lacking is the political will.
Taxpayers subsidise Forestry Corp
It is for this reason that 1500 people came together in Lismore on Sunday 22nd March to call for action. As part of the Bob Brown Foundation’s March for Forests across Australia, we marched past the offices of Federal Nationals MP Kevin Hogan and NSW State Labor MP Janelle Saffin, demanding the immediate end to native forest logging here in NSW.
The creation of the Great Koala National Park last year was a good start, though long overdue (promised by Labor in 2015) and with thousands of hectares already logged under the Minns government’s watch.
The danger is now that the NSW Labor government will declare its job done, and let the destruction of our native forests continue apace in the rest of the state, including here in the Richmond catchment.
Indeed, Premier Minns and Janelle Saffin recently met in Lismore with Andrew Hurford, President of Timber NSW and CEO of a major business beneficiary of native forest logging, Hurford Hardwood, to discuss extending the North Coast Wood Supply Agreements beyond 2028, which would result in the decimation of many forests to be included in the RRKP.
Once agreed, if for any reason Forestry Corporation can’t meet the supply they demand – we taxpayers have to compensate them! This would be economic madness.
As taxpayers, we subsidised Forestry Corporation $32 million in 2024-25 – it has not recorded a profit from native forest logging in more than ten years. This money could be better spent transitioning workers into long-term, sustainable jobs looking after our native forests rather than destroying them.
As former NSW magistrate, Professor David Heilpern has said, Forestry Corporation behaves like a criminal organisation with their repeated breaches of environmental laws. Yet every time they commit a crime, you pay the fine – the latest was $450,000 for illegal logging in Wild Cattle Creek State Forest.
What will it take for Labor to finally act, disband this dysfunctional, destructive and loss-making organisation, and end native logging in NSW? When will Chris Minns and Janelle Saffin finally listen to the scientists, the economists, our community and many of its own members, and stop doing the bidding of a few narrow sectional interests and donors?
In contrast, for decades the Greens in the Northern Rivers and across Australia have consistently stood with our community, on the frontlines and in our parliaments, in defence of our native forests. With your support, we will continue the fight, and together we will win.
Join our movement at: Australian Greens | A future for all of us Visit the RRKP website: Richmond River Koala Parks to learn more about the campaign and sign the petition to NSW parliament. The RRKP campaign is not aligned to any political party.
