The New South Wales government has been accused of stalling on a promise to create a national park to protect koalas as tension mounts over logging in the state’s northern forests.
Protesters and police have been engaged in a standoff, with both groups setting up forest camps, as logging takes place in the Newry state forest near the town of Bellingen, on the mid-north coast.
Hundreds rallied in nearby Coffs Harbour on Friday to demand the state government cease logging in areas intended to form part of the promised national park.
“Everybody there was aggrieved. The government made one single promise – it was going to create the great koala national park – and now it’s gutting it,” said Mark Graham, a longtime forests advocate from the region.
“All communities around are considering it a fundamental breach of trust and reneging on a promise.”
Before the March election, Labor committed to establishing the new national park. But the government has defended the recent forestry activity by saying it had not committed to a suspension or moratorium on logging.
In a letter to the premier, Chris Minns, and the environment minister, Penny Sharpe, the NSW Greens environment spokesperson, Sue Higginson, said it was distressing to have witnessed the “on-ground destruction and harm” occurring at Newry state forest.
“Protecting these forests was a key election promise that has delivered you into minority government, regardless of the confected argument that there was no commitment to end logging of critical areas of the promised Great Koala National Park,” the letter says.
Speaking to Guardian Australia, Higginson drew a parallel between what was occurring on the mid-north coast and the dispute between the government and the NSW Teachers Federation over wages, describing both as a “breach of trust”.
“Minns has got to be held accountable for this,” she said. “The Teachers Federation have started a major campaign saying keep your promises. We’re expecting the same with the election commitment to the environment.”
Gumbaynggirr elder Michael Jarrett said Gumbaynggirr people felt “frustration, anger and sorrow” when they saw the logging trucks driving away from Newry state forest.
“We’ve got greater gliders in there, we’ve got koalas in there that are on the verge of being extinct – it’s crazy,” he said.
Rataj Abdullah, a high school student and organiser of Coffs Youth Climate Alliance, has spent time at the camp. She said occupying the forest was a “last defence”.
“These forests are important because they are sacred to Gumbaynggirr people,” she said.
“People are also scared for their future. Especially young people – we want to see a future where there is forests.”
Environmental advocates said Newry state forest had habitat for endangered greater gliders and its koala habitat was considered so important it was identified by the NSW government in 2017 as a “koala hub”.
“Anyone interested to see how Australia treats the endangered koala need look no further than Newry state forest,” the chief executive of the Nature Conservation Council of NSW, Jacqui Mumford, said.
Concerns are also held for other areas, including nearby Oakes state forest where logging is due to commence soon and which is a stronghold for threatened species.
Farther north, the North East Forest Alliance has sought an injunction over logging in the Myrtle and Braemar state forests, which sit outside the area the new national park would cover, but also have koala habitat. Hearings in the matter are scheduled for next week.
There has been growing pressure on the NSW Labor government to end native forest logging after Victoria’s Andrews government announced the practice would cease in December, six years earlier than planned.
A spokesperson for Sharpe said the minister was yet to see Higginson’s letter but would respond when it was received.
“The creation of a Great Koala National Park is the NSW government’s single biggest environment election commitment,” the spokesperson said.
“The government is working to deliver this commitment as soon as possible and will soon have more to say publicly about how the establishment of the park will be undertaken.”
NSW Forestry Corporation has said that of the 2m hectares it manages, half is managed for conservation and only 1% of the total area is harvested each year.
Comment was sought from Minns.
