There have been revelations that a Queensland wind farm project is euthanising koalas to make way for wind turbines. During a 2GB radio interview, Nationals MP Keith Pitt discussed Queensland’s Clarke Creek wind farm project. Pitt mentioned that the project’s environmental controls outline how to get rid of small animals injured by wind turbines, by euthanising them with a “sharp blow with a hammer to the skull.”
Clarke Creek is located in the Clarke-Connors Range, home to one of the most significant koala populations in Queensland. The environment impact statement for the project states that, “Euthanasia will be conducted using blunt force trauma,” which is the primary recommended method to “humanely kill reptiles, amphibians, and small to medium-sized mammals.”
Habitat loss due to land clearing and deforestation is one of the worst threats for koalas, destroying vital eucalyptus tree forests that koalas depend on for their home and their food. When their homes are destroyed, koalas are vulnerable to dogs and car accidents.
It is estimated that there are less than 64,000 koalas left in the wild in Australia, but this could be as little as 38,648 according to figures from the Australian Koala Foundation. Between 2018 and 2021, there has been an estimated 30 percent decline in koalas across Australia.
Not only is the Clarke Creek project impacting koalas but the Lotus Creek project approved by Tanya Plibersek, the minister for the Environment and Water, also allowed the decimation of old-growth forest with known koala habitat. As a result of recent proposals, more than 100 square kilometers of koala habitat in Queensland are due to be destroyed.
Journalist Nick Cater has been successful in drawing attention to the destruction of native wildlife by wind farms. It has been highlighted that spinning wind turbines also horrifically impact bats and raptors. Bats and bird-of-prey are being decimated by the wind turbines at nearby Kaban, Windy Hill, and Mount Emerald wind farms.
It’s not just Australia’s native flora and fauna that is being impacted, it will also add a negative effect on tourism and local tourism businesses. Nature-based tourism is worth almost $20 billion per year in New South Wales, and the Australia Koala Foundation estimates the value of the koala to Australian tourism is more than $3 billion per year.
These and other environmental impacts raise questions about the actions that the government and opposition parties are taking to protect the environment and endangered species.