All environmental eyes will be on the Federal Court in Perth today Thursday 13 April 2023 at 2.15pm AWST, 4.15 pm AEST, as lawyers for the Friends of the Gelorup Corridor seek an injunction to stop WA Main Roads from smashing through the 9 hectares heartland of the Gelorup woodlands which contain endangered birds, animals, fish and plants.
“This case is of national significance,” says Bob Brown, who has visited the Gelorup woodlands. “It is about whether the farce ‘off-sets’ is used to allow the destruction of the habitat of critically-endangered species including the Western ringtailed possum, or three species of threatened black cockatoos, orchids and a native fish. A judge of the court ruled that the works could continue. This injunction is to halt the Main Roads bulldozers until the full bench of the Federal Court, in a hearing set for 18 May, reviews that decision.”
“There are options for the bypass but none for the endangered species. Australia’s Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act makes it illegal to destroy endangered species.”
“The federal Minister for the Environment, Tanya Plibersek, rejected WA Main Roads’ offset plan because it provided no viable alternative for the future of the endangered species. Meanwhile the roadwork resulted in the deaths of six Western ringtailed possums, including two babies, before it was halted in 2022.”
“This urgent injunction is being sought because the bulldozers can cause irreparable damage before the full bench of the Federal Court gets to hear the compelling legal case for saving the Gelorup woodland,” Brown said.
