Three koala road deaths

By Jo Kennett

THERE HAVE been calls for action after three koalas died on the Tweed Coast in the past fortnight, including one at Tanglewood near Bogangar and one at Pottsville.

Local resident Sharon Leslie said the death of a mother and baby on Clothiers Creek Road at Tanglewood was “a tragic loss for the dwindling local population”.

“There are growing calls for speed mitigation devices and a speed reduction from 70 to 50 on that stretch of road between Cabarita Beach/ Bogangar and the highway,” Sharon said. “Tweed Council has agreed in principle to look into the issue, but as road traffic increases due to the new Kings Forest development, we are starting to wonder what other direct action and political options locals have for protection of this now endangered animal.”

Koala Beach resident and Tweed Coast Koala Advisory Committee member Irene Timmins said another koala had been hit and killed on

Pottsville Road last weekend.

“Koala lives matter to a lot of people in our community, so it has been heartbreaking to learn that three otherwise healthy koalas had lost their lives on our roads,” she said.

“I have been talking to various people in our community about their concerns and despair over the numerous wildlife fatalities on our roads and they say we need action not talk.

“The incidents of wildlife deaths should never be something we get used to or accept as inevitable, particularly with endangered species like koalas.”

Irene said our roads are now part of koala corridors and have become “death zones”. “Holding a koala up for a photograph shoot doesn’t cut it anymore,” she said.

“More koala warning signs, slower speeds, speed cameras, speed humps, chicanes, wildlife bridges and underpasses are some of the community’s suggestions.

“The wheels need to turn a lot faster to save our koalas. We can do better than this, and our koalas deserve it.”

Catch up with Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin

Save Murwillumbah Schools

A NSW State Labor Government is your only chance to save Murwillumbah schools.

It was a pleasure to have NSW Shadow Minister for Education Prue Car MP back at Murwillumbah East Public School this month to reaffirm NSW Labor’s rock solid commitment to keep all four Murwillumbah public schools open.

We were joined by Labor candidate for Tweed Craig Elliot and Federal Member for Richmond Justine Elliot MP, again listening to the concerns of parents from affected school communities.

In 2020, The Nationals in Government rode into town, and without any consultation, announced the closure of the four schools, consolidating into one campus and leaving chaos in their wake.

The Nationals still haven’t provided sound educational reasons for their flawed policy decision under then-leader John Barilaro.

I have stood with the community since day one on this issue and need your number one vote to save our Murwillumbah schools.

I commend the teachers, administrative staff, P & C and students for their forbearance during this time.

Fighting the good fight for our farmers

I’m fighting the good fight for Tweed Shire primary producers who are being shut out of the Farms of the Future – Agtech Grant Program.

Currently, the eligible local areas for these grants of up to $35,000 include Lismore, Byron and Ballina (Northern Rivers region), Armidale (Northern Tablelands region) as well as Moree Plains, Narrabri, Cabonne, Carrathool, Griffith,

Leeton and Orange.

I’ve written to NSW Minister for Agriculture Dugald Saunders asking him to consider including Tweed Shire, Kyogle and Tenterfield Shire as eligible Local Government Areas.

Local farmers and mayors have raised concerns with me that the limited number of LGAs effectively discriminates against primary producers who have endured drought, bushfires, floods and other economic hardship.

The Farms of the Future program aims to deliver improved connectivity and encourage farmers to adopt Agtech to boost productivity and improve resource management, including water efficiency and drought preparedness.

It is not as if two of the three targeted sectors – livestock (sheep and beef) and grains and horticultural (tree crops and vines) – do not exist in these LGAs that need grant support and the potential productivity benefits. The other sector is cotton.

In my discussions with farmers, I know that they are keen to apply for Agtech grants but are less than impressed that they cannot get a look in.