This is Bora Bora. On the evening of October 29, Friends of the Koala Inc. got a call about a koala walking in circles. Local koala rescuer @talkingkoala from Bagotville in the NSW Northern Rivers region responded to the call...

#auspol #nswpol #koalakiller #koalasaver

Maria picked up Bora Bora from an area burnt by last summer's horrific fires. She was suffering chlamydial conjunctivitis, cystitis, retrovirus, a ruptured eye, and more. She could not be saved, and was euthanised.

Bora Bora came from habitat that is still recovering from the devastating fires, and could be logged with little or no consideration of koalas living in the area if the LLS Amendment Bill is passed. Healthy koalas need healthy habitat.

But if passed, the LLS amendment bill will undo over two decades of progress in koala conservation by:
preventing koala habitat throughout NSW from being mapped and zoned thoroughly
giving more defences for logging in rural areas

tightening the definition of "core koala habitat"
muddying transparency within logging
increasing the burden of private logging activity on local councils

The bill also completely ignores the scientific findings and recommendations put to the government by:
* the NSW Audit Office
* the Natural Resources Commission
* the NSW Upper House Koala Inquiry
* The Independent Biodiversity Review Panel

I have been inundated with emails about the LLS amendment bill. It's heartening to see so many people from across Australia (and the world) speak out so strongly against it.

I hear you, and I'll speak for Bora Bora and all the other koalas and other animals that call (or used to call) NSW bushland and forests home. This week I will have the opportunity to speak to the LLS amednment bill - and I can assure you my speech is scathing.

Thank you to @talkingkoala for letting me share her and Bora Bora's story. It's so important we put individual faces to the carnage caused by the NSW Coalition Government's environmental destruction.

We can't keep looking at environmental impact as numbers, of trees logged or hectares on a map. It's individuals who suffer - animals like Bora Bora who lose their homes, become stressed, diseased, and vulnerable, and suffer incredibly because of it.