Podcast: Australian species on the brink

On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Conservation Foundation Kelly O’Shanassy joins us to talk about habitat destruction, the future of Australia’s threatened species, and why governments must do more to protect biodiversity.

Since colonisation, Australia’s native species have lived under enormous strain. In the two centuries since, some 30 Australian mammals have been made extinct, accounting for more than a third of global mammal extinctions since 1500. Despite this, the Australian Government has been approving development projects resulting in habitat destruction at an alarming rate, according to a new report by the Australian Conservation Foundation. So, what should policymakers be doing to prevent this disturbing trend? On this episode of Policy Forum Pod, Kelly O’Shanassy, Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Conservation Foundation, joins Professor Sharon Bessell and Dr Arnagretta Hunter to discuss the urgent need to protect Australia’s native species. Listen here: https://bit.ly/37YNBZW

Kelly O’Shanassy is Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Conservation Foundation. Previously, she was Chief Executive Officer of Environment Victoria.

Sharon Bessell is Professor of Public Policy and Director of both the Children’s Policy Centre and the Poverty and Inequality Research Centre at ANU Crawford School of Public Policy.

Arnagretta Hunter is the Human Futures Fellow at ANU College of Health and Medicine, a cardiologist, physician, and a Senior Clinical Lecturer at ANU Medical School.

Show notes | The following were mentioned during this episode:

Aggravating Extinction, Australian Conservation Foundation (2022)

‘Australian government ‘aggravating extinction’ through land-clearing approvals, analysis finds’, Adam Morton, Guardian Australia (2022)

‘Australia’s biggest climate poll’, Australian Conservation Foundation (2022)

Management of Threatened Species and Ecological Communities under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, Australian National Audit Office (2022)

Independent review of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (2019)

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