Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Environment spokesperson
Today’s swift parrot population report is horrifying. This precious bird is teetering on the brink of extinction.
The numbers reported are sadly not surprising, given the Liberals’ insatiable appetite for forest destruction. If this beautiful bird is to survive, that must stop now.
For all their spin and mistruths the Liberals can’t change the cold hard facts - logging swift parrot habitat is pushing this iconic species towards extinction.
In a climate and biodiversity emergency, there is no justification for logging or destroying swift parrot habitat.
The government should be looking to far stronger protections for native wildlife. Instead, critical habitat is being torn down with reckless abandon across lutruwita/Tasmania.
While habitat loss through native forest logging is the greatest threat this tiny bird faces, the overarching problem is the Liberals’ obvious view that threatened species are little more than an inconvenience.
Another example of the Liberals’ disregard for the critically endangered swift parrot is the planned removal of six old trees containing breeding hollows, as part of a road-widening project near St Helens.
Despite department and ecologist warnings that removing these trees would have a damaging impact on breeding, the Liberals intend to push on regardless. Information received today confirms they even refused to refer this project to the federal government for a threatened species impact assessment.
While the Gutwein Government continues to log native forests, threatened species like the swift parrot will be pushed further towards extinction. It’s an undeniable and shameful truth.
If this government doesn’t want to be responsible for the swift parrot suffering the same fate as the thylacine, they have to act now. The only way to protect unique Tasmanian wildlife is to protect their habitat – and that means to end native forest logging.