One of Australia’s leading ethical investment managers says it has sold its shares in Lendlease over concerns a planned housing development in south-west Sydney threatens the survival of Sydney’s largest healthy koala population.
Australian Ethical has divested $11m in shareholdings in the property developer’s listed assets, saying Lendlease had failed to provide “critical information” about the width of planned koala corridors at stage two of its Gilead housing development.
The investment manager said it believed it was one of the first funds managers in Australia to divest from a company because of concern for an endangered species.
The development proposes more than 3,000 additional houses in the Campbelltown local government area, which includes habitat for koalas.
A proposal for the project was publicly exhibited in December, and Australian Ethical and environmental campaigners have raised concern it contained insufficient information about the specific dimensions of nature corridors that would be retained for koalas.
The environment and heritage group within the New South Wales Department of Planning and Environment raised similar issues, writing in public submissions that insufficient information had been provided about biodiversity.
It also wrote it considered the proposal to be “inconsistent with the advice and recommendations contained in the Office of Chief Scientist and Engineer (OCSE) advice on the protection of the Campbelltown koalas”.
The OCSE’s advice recommended an average koala corridor width of 390m to 425m, and the method used for calculating that average included a minimum width of 250m.
Australian Ethical is concerned the NSW planning and environment department and Lendlease have interpreted the advice in a way that is favourable for development and dangerous for koalas by making the habitat too narrow for the koalas to move through and survive.
The funds manager said it had lost faith after recent talks with Lendlease “stalled”, and the planning and environment department had failed to commit to “meaningful public consultation” ahead of a July deadline for a decision on whether to approve the development.
Australian Ethical sold its debt and equity positions in Lendlease last week. It still has an investment in an unlisted property trust – the Australian Prime Property Fund Retail – which is illiquid and managed by Lendlease but said it would exit as soon as it was able.
“For over four years we have used our shareholdings in Lendlease to encourage it to strengthen koala protections, but Australian Ethical cannot continue to support a company that appears to be failing to take biodiversity protection seriously,” Australian Ethical spokesperson Amanda Richman said.
“We’ve been clear that Australian Ethical would continue to advocate until we have exhausted all avenues with Lendlease to improve koala protections, and we’ve now reached that point.”
She said Australian Ethical was calling on the NSW environment minister, James Griffin, to intervene and ensure there was transparent public consultation because “we cannot be confident that this koala colony will survive the developments proposed for the area”.
“Neither Lendlease or the NSW Department of Planning and Environment have given the public meaningful information about the proposed koala corridors at Mt Gilead, and we have serious concerns about the way the reports from the NSW chief scientist and other experts are being interpreted by the department,” she said.
Stuart Blanch, a conservation scientist with WWF-Australia, welcomed Australian Ethical’s decision and hoped other financial institutions would take note and “commit to divesting from corporations who are destroying nature”.
“We’re familiar with banks divesting from coal, oil and gas, but Australian Ethical has made a stand to protect nature,” he said.
Australian Ethical’s decision follows recent concerns raised about the planned expansion of other housing developments in western and south-western Sydney, including in areas that received fast-tracked land rezonings.
Environment campaigners and scientists have also questioned whether these proposed developments adequately protect koalas and endangered ecosystems.
A spokesperson for Lendlease said the company had engaged with Australian Ethical for several years and that its plans “fully adhere to the independent and expert recommendations of the NSW chief scientist”.
“Our $35m investment into conservation at Gilead includes creating koala corridors that have been independently assessed as meeting the recommendations of the chief scientist in terms of width and connectivity.”
A spokesperson for the planning and environment department said “transparency has and always will be an important part of our assessment processes”.
They said Lendlease’s proposal included maps identifying the location of proposed koala corridors, and those maps, as well as the chief scientist’s advice, were publicly available.
They said the department’s environment and heritage group took part in a technical assurance program “which ensured the draft proposal met the advice of the chief scientist and engineer”.
A spokesperson for NSW planning minister, Anthony Roberts, said the specifications for the koala corridors “will be further refined as the draft proposal for Stage 2 progresses through the planning process”.
“This is the only way to enable timely delivery of koala underpasses along Appin Road that are consistent with the chief scientist’s recommendations.”
The spokesperson said the Coalition, if re-elected this month, remained committed to doubling the state’s koala populations by 2050.
Comment was sought from James Griffin.
