Conservation Matters: March 2026
- Peter Valentine
- 2 days ago
- 7 min read
Peter Valentine | Conservation Officer
Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs)
I start this edition with some good news, even if it has occurred a long while after we needed it!
The recalcitrant and obstructive Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicine Authority (APVMA) has announced that it proposes to ban the sale to the public of Second Generation Anticoagulant Rodenticides (SGARs).
BirdLife Australia and many others have been advocating for this action for some time, and I personally extend my gratitude to all of you who took the time to make a submission on this matter.
I recall writing to Senator Murray Watt in 2022 (the Minister for Agriculture at the time) asking him to act to force the APVMA to restrict these toxic substances from public sale, or better still ban them as other countries have.
Sadly he simply deferred to the APVMA’s proposed two-year review. However, there was no legitimate reason for a review as the necessary information was already published (evidence of collateral risks to carnivores elsewhere, and no basis on which it might be assumed that our carnivores might be somehow immune to these toxins).
Those two years of APVMA’s review became four and the review submissions closed just recently on 16 March 2026. One result has been hundreds of dead owls and other species, and a great deal of outrage from conservation interests across Australia.
One cause of that outrage is that the risk of collateral killing of carnivores was already well known and identified, and even the mechanism for the problem was well understood and acted upon elsewhere including in Canada, USA and Europe. This was even before the SGARs were permitted here in Australia.
My heart goes out to the great suffering of so many of our bird and other wildlife species, as a result of these bureaucratic and political games that ignore science and logic, perhaps to curry favour with the chemical industry that produced this lethal set of toxins. That story is yet to be written, but the fact remains that the cost of the APVMA is largely met by contributions from the very industries it is established to control. In many situations this would be condemned as “conflict of interest”.
In any event, thanks to all who did send a submission to the APVMA, or who wrote to the Minister for the Environment about this matter. I have no doubt we might be needed to write again as this Government continues to find novel ways to threaten the environment as a means of appeasing somebody. Most disappointing. I provide some links in Further Reading below for those who might be interested.
Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999 Review
Many of us celebrated the long-awaited revision of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act 1999, believing that the Albanese Government, which broke its promise to introduce the revised laws in its first term, might do a reasonable job in finally making our environment safer from accelerated destructive practices.
For such optimists, the Minister for the Environment (Senator Murray Watt) has shattered their illusions by deciding that a major clearing proposal in the Northern Territory (NT) did not need any environmental assessment. It is hard to know whether the operation of the new EPBC revised Law, which comes into effect in July 2026, would make any difference as the same Minister is still in control.
The area (on Claravale Station and Farm adjacent to the Daly River) is known habitat for two Endangered bird species (Gouldian Finch; and our rarest bird of prey, the Red Goshawk), but also for many other significant bird species as well as Ghost Bats and other wildlife.
The NT is the only jurisdiction in Australia with no specific native vegetation laws, and no overarching biodiversity conservation strategy to protect the world’s last intact Tropical Savanna. Many tens of thousands of hectares of savanna forest have been bulldozed over the last 10 years without any official environmental assessment.
The claim by Minister Watt that the revised EPBC Act will help protect nature is now seen to be so much hot air. A potential test to protect habitat from clearing, allowed significant destruction to be simply waved through by the Minister, with not even an attempt at assessment. And given that the area includes habitat of our rarest bird of prey, it is bordering on criminal that the owners have been given the green light to bulldoze almost 3,000 ha of woodland without a single survey required.
The same owners were prosecuted by the NT Government over a previous illegal clearing activity, so the evidence points to an untrustworthy company with runs on the board for illegal clearing, and which is now being rewarded by the Albanese Federal Government.
These massive industrial-scale clearing projects, to grow crops of cotton in this case, destroy the habitat completely, and ensure that more of the magnificent and unique environment that we have inherited will not be passed on to future generations, and will result in further decline in the flora and fauna.
The owners are Queenslanders from Dalby and have history with broad-scale intensive clearing with bulldozers. They are no doubt celebrating as they crank up their dozers, but the valuable tropical woodlands they are about to wreck will be seen as a great loss to future generations.
Sadly they will not be required to even identify the natural wildlife that they are licenced to kill. A precedent will be set that others will likely follow, giving further proof that the Federal Government has failed to produce the effective Environmental Protection law promised. Yet further disappointment from the Albanese Government.
This is by no means the end of this issue, as the revised EPBC Act will need serious amendment if it is to function as it is supposed to. There is significant protest from many organisations and BirdLife Australia has cried foul already.
Major clearing extension to Alcoa for bauxite mining in WA's Jarrah Forests
The Federal Environment Minister, Murray Watt, seems to be on a run as he has also granted (in February) a major extension to bauxite miner, Alcoa, for clearing more Jarrah forests in Western Australia (WA). This is despite the company illegally clearing such Jarrah forests since 2011. A fine of $55 million was applied for the illegal clearing that was done between 2019–2025.
It is impossible to recover or regenerate these cleared forests: they are permanently lost. A similar situation occurs on Cape York Peninsula where the bauxite mining totally destroys the hydro-geology.
However, exemption has subsequently been granted to Alcoa for further clearing: the reason given being so Australia could meet a critical minerals agreement with USA President Trump.
The Environmental Defenders Office (EDO) Special Counsel Ruby Hamilton said:
“Federal Environment Minister Murray Watt’s decision to allow Alcoa to continue destroying Western Australia’s jarrah forest for another 18 months is a concerning extraordinary use of the ‘national interest’ exemption under our federal environmental laws.
Minister Watt announced on Wednesday [Editor’s note: 11 February 2026] he had granted a national-interest exemption to Alcoa allowing for limited land clearing to continue its mining operations for a period of 18 months.
The exemption follows a record $55 million penalty for Alcoa’s breaches of federal environmental laws between 2019–2025.
The national interest exemption power has only been used eight times over the last five years, exclusively for emergency works in the interests of safety or to rescue a species from potential extinction.
Giving out this exemption to a company that has been breaching federal environmental laws for years is not what the power was designed for.”
Matt Roberts from the Conservation Council of WA said:
“…the government has prioritised corporate interests and foreign defence interests above the jarrah forests, the endangered species that rely on the forests and Perth’s drinking water – showing just how wrong their priorities are.”
Georgina Woods, Head of Research and Investigations at Lock the Gate Alliance, reinforced this concern:
“This mining company got away with breaking the law for 15 years under successive Australian governments, illegally clearing in a global biodiversity hotspot and then, when it finally admitted it needed some paperwork to continue its destruction, applied for and was granted an exemption to the law within 19 days. It’s flagrant and it’s staggering.”
This falls well short of what might have been expected from the Australian Labor Party (ALP), particularly following the previous term under Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek, and raises further concerns for our environment.
Duck Shooting Season
As you read this you may care to reflect on the fact that both Victoria and South Australia (SA) are currently allowing hunters to shoot native ducks and native quail. The open season has started for ducks, and lasts about 12 weeks.
Last year half a million ducks were shot in the short season in Victoria, and about 5% of the ducks shot were lost by the hunter: these birds went to die somewhere else This is what some declare to be humane and responsible slaughter. Just because you can, does not mean you should or that it is OK.
In SA the hunting is managed by the SA Government Department for Environment and Water – all the species hunted are “protected” species. It sounds like an interesting discussion.
Hopefully, whatever else, this piece has taken your mind off the destruction of global peace, resources, and economy. Perhaps another interesting conversation around the campfire: including the conservation consequences.
Further reading
