Australia, and the world, is in an era of dollar values overriding ecological values. Some call this neoliberalism or capitalism. It is also ecoruinous.

The majority Senate vote on 10th September 2026 has facilitated the Great Koala National Park in northeast New South Wales being conditional on the trading of carbon credits out of its forests to benefit greenhouse gas emitters.

Inherent natural values have been demoted. Non-dollar values like species and habitat protection, Country or cultural landscapes, wilderness integrity, wild and scenic beauty, humanity’s spiritual connection with nature and our obligation to ensure that future generations inherit the natural bounty handed to us by past generations, are no longer decisive reasons for protection. Saving money for the big-end-of-town has became the determining factor.

Had the vote gone the other way in the Senate, the Great Koala Park would have been created by the NSW electorate, stirred by an anti-Minns campaign from environmentalists standing up to Labor for reneging on its unconditional promise. That is, Minns Labor should have been put on the rack for breaking its word.

Instead, Minns put environmentalists on the rack, the majority understandably conceded and the consequences are longterm.

Future forest and wildlife protection will depend on carbon credits being sold out of the forests as ‘offsets’ to factories like the Port Kembla steelworks which emit greenhouse gases from the burning of coal or gas.

This is our new normal. Money rules.

Our foundation joined others in a long discussion and short showdown on the issue and we lost. Nevertheless, we shouldn’t be diverted from the direct need to protect nature by repeating the carbon credits debate on every occasion to come.

Rather, we should campaign for all the forest values without letting the debate about carbon credits sideline them.

We will continue to be the ‘purists’ others call us and campaign for nature and all its non-dollar values. That’s good old commonsense. Love of nature rules.