[Greens-Media] MEDIA RELEASE: 'Greens Step Up Campaign to Save Ballina Koalas and have a safer Pacific Highway' - Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC (Greens NSW)

[Mehreen Faruqi]

MEDIA RELEASE
14-2-2014
Greens Step Up Campaign to Save Ballina Koalas and have a Safer Pacific Highway

Greens NSW Spokesperson for Roads, Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC, has launched an online platform to allow concerned community members to contact the Roads Minister, Duncan Gay, directly. The proposed Pacific Highway Upgrade Section 10 takes a large detour away from the existing Pacific Highway into the Blackwall Range, which a recent study commissioned by Ballina Shire Council has shown is home to a nationally significant koala population.

Dr Faruqi will also be speaking at a community forum on Tuesday 18th of February in Ballina at the Ballina RSL at 7pm.

"After writing to both the Federal Environment Minister and Duncan Gay last year, I have decided to launch an online platform, along with Ballina Greens Councillor, Jeff Johnson, so concerned residents can take their message straight to the Ministers responsible.

"The good news is that there are already a number of routes identified by the environmental impact study that do not impact the koala population. The minister can deliver both an upgraded and safer Pacific Highway and protect our iconic North Coast koalas.

"I have been researching this issue since local members of the Ballina community approached my office late last year so I am looking forward to visiting Ballina and seeing the potential impact directly.

"As an environmental engineer, I urge the government to utilise the precautionary principle and not risk one of the most important koala populations on the East Coast.

"NSW has lost around a third of its koalas since 1990. The Ballina koala populations are some of the only growing populations on the East Coast. We have no option but to protect them", she concluded.

Online Email Platform: https://mehreenfaruqi.good.do/koalas/

More information:
http://www.mehreenfaruqi.org.au/greens-call-on-state-government-to-alter-pacific-highway-route-to-save-vulnerable-koala-populations-on-north-coast/

Community Forum: A Public Meeting is being held on Tuesday 18 Feb., 6.30pm for 7pm at the Ballina RSL Club, sponsored by the Ballina Environment Society and Friends of the Koala, Inc.. Speakers: Dr Steve Phillips, author of koala study; Ian Radcliff, EDO and Dr Mehreen Faruqi, MLC

Media Contact: Matt Hilton 0423-106-247


Matt Hilton
Legislative, Policy and Media Adviser

Office of Dr Mehreen Faruqi MLC
Legislative Council | NSW Parliament
E: matthew.hilton at parliament.nsw.gov.au<mailto:matthew.hilton at parliament.nsw.gov.au>
P: (02) 9230 2625 | M: +61423106247|F: facebook.com/mehreenfaruqi | T: @MehreenFaruqi | W: mehreenfaruqi.org.au
Mail: Parliament House, Macquarie Street, Sydney, NSW 2000

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