KoaLa Dundee to hold vigil outside Parliament House

TAKING action is second nature to Peter Elzer.

The 71-year-old Coffs Harbour-based conservationist, formerly known as ‘KoaLaMan’, has campaigned for many years for the protection of Pine Creek State Forest and the establishment of the Great Koala National Park (GKNP).

He has previously held a 12-day hunger strike outside Parliament House and, last year, walked the 580km from Coffs Harbour to Sydney,

Mr. Elzer, whose preferred pseudonym is now ‘KoaLa Dundee’, is extremely concerned that all of Coffs Harbour’s coastal koalas will become extinct in a few short years if the ‘Forest Bridge’ is not included in the GKNP.

KoaLa Dundee will maintain an18-day presence from 9am Tuesday 15 September, the first sitting day of the NSW Parliament, at Macquarie Street, until the end of November.

The vigil will also mourn the death of a koala found injured during clear-fell operations in Pine Creek State Forest in July.

Forestry Corporation confirmed the animal was found on 21 July within an active harvesting area.

It was taken to Port Macquarie Koala Hospital for care and was subsequently euthanised.

KoaLa Dundee said: “The vigil will be a quiet, respectful presence opposite Parliament House, where information will be provided via an interactive information board, complete with QR code for a further information video.

“I am hoping to, once again, engage with Penny Sharpe (Minister for Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Heritage) in a very serious discussion.”

As part of the solemn observance, KoaLa Dundee will sound a gong on the hour, every hour, throughout the day.

“The gong is a knell – a death knell for a koala that should still be alive, and a warning knell for the corridor and the remaining koalas,” he said.

“This is why the knell is needed.

“This forest was supposed to be protected.

“Instead, we are still losing koalas to logging in the very compartments that should form the bridge.”

Mr Elzer, a long-time Coffs Coast resident, said he has witnessed the extinction of all northern beaches koalas, which, decades ago, formed a healthy large colony.

He fears that the remaining few in the heart of the city around the Coffs Creek bushland and east of the Sawtell link road will suffer the same fate in years to come.

“Without connectivity to the lush hinterland connecting Bongil Bongil National Park to Bindarri National Park, this small re-emerging colony will also become extinct,” he said.

KoaLa Dundee will provide interested persons with the Premier’s and Environment Minister’s Parliamentary phone numbers and will urge them to call to show support on the days of 15, 16 and 17 September.

By Andrew VIVIAN