Tasmanian devils are one of Australia's most iconic species. Now extinct on the mainland, these famously cantankerous marsupials are now found in the wild only on Tasmania.
Sadly, even though they are now protected, devils are still facing tremendous challenges. Their population is being decimated by the fatal Devil Facial Tumour Disease (DFTD) at the same time that their fragile habitat is being threatened by logging and mining.
With devil populations dwindling, it's more important than ever that we preserve their habitat. However, our current environment laws aren't strong enough to protect them. Our governments are allowing companies to mine, bulldoze, dredge and destroy with little oversight.
This cannot go on. We are facing a pollution and extinction crisis and we have no Planet B. Our elected representatives must create a new framework of national laws to safeguard our air, water and all living things, not allow it to be destroyed.
This new framework of laws must:
- Make the federal government responsible for protecting the air we breathe, our wildlife, our climate and the places we love
- Establish an independent commission to set environmental standards
- Create an independent national Environmental Protection Authority to make sure governments and businesses do the right thing by nature
- Guarantee communities the right to have a say in environmental decisions
Ask Prime Minister Turnbull and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten to create stronger laws for air, water and wildlife.
