The Conservation Council of WA, the state’s peak environment group, has expressed its outrage and dismay at Premier Cook’s anti-nature lobbying and Prime Minister Albanese’s decision to abandon nature positive legislation.
Rhiannon Hardwick, the Nature Program Manager at the Conservation Council of WA, said:
“After the longest, hottest, driest summer on record last year, WA’s forests, woodlands and street trees are browning off and dying and Western Australians are more anxious about climate change and nature conservation than ever.
“At CCWA we have hundreds of conversations with ordinary Western Australians every week and we know that across all demographics, people want to see nature protected and action taken to prevent the worst of climate change. This is backed up by recent Redbridge research that shows 78% of West Australians want stronger nature laws. But Premier Cook has only been listening to the big polluters.
“The Premier has let us down. He has been misrepresenting ordinary Western Australians by telling the country and the Prime Minister that we prefer polluting industries over nature protection. With all due respect, Premier Cook has misread us and left people feeling betrayed and outraged.
“We continue to call on the Premier and the Prime Minister to heed the independent science and community voices. We are watching as species and ecosystems decline at unprecedented levels and climate records are breached on a monthly basis.
“We need real action to protect nature and prevent the worst of climate change, not more handouts and capitulation to mining magnates.”
ENDS
CONTACT: For any enquiries relating to this release please contact 0401 233 965 or by email on [email protected]
MEDIA INFORMATION: The Conservation Council of WA (CCWA) is the state’s foremost non-profit, non-government conservation organisation representing nearly 100 environmental organisations across Western Australia.