Editorial
Dead parrot sketch

It is difficult to know which numbers are the more appalling, the very large ones or the ones that are tragically small. Is it the scale of the destruction of threatened species habitat approved by the Albanese government, or is it the fact that the surviving population of night parrots could be counted by most children under 10?

For a hundred years, the night parrot was believed to be extinct. In 2013, a few birds were seen in Queensland. Another population was found in Western Australia. It is the animal’s curse that these are the two states in which it lives.

Last year, the Albanese government approved 6198 hectares of night parrot habitat for clearing. It did this at the same time that estimates put the parrots’ population at as few as 50 birds.

In all, the government approved the clearing of 57,199 hectares of threatened species habitat last year. According to analysis by the Australian Conservation Foundation, this was double the rate of approved clearing in the previous year. It was five times the rate of approvals the year before that.

Every 25 minutes, a football field of threatened species habitat is cleared in Australia. More than half of this is for mining. There are more approvals in the Pilbara than anywhere else. As well as the night parrot, the clearing affects the northern quoll, the ghost bat, the Pilbara leaf-nosed bat, the Pilbara olive python, the koala, the squatter pigeon, the grey falcon, the greater glider, the greater bilby, and others.

In September, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water updated its advice on the night parrot. It listed the key threats to the species as fire, cats and foxes, and habitat degradation by cattle. It made no mention of the bulldozers the government allows to roll through its nests and roosts.

Three-and-a-half years ago, then environment minister Tanya Plibersek delivered a striking speech at the National Press Club. She had just received her first briefings as minister and was appalled by what she heard. Her outrage made it one of the most strident speeches delivered during the last parliament.

She began by thanking the activists who had protected the country’s wilderness. She spoke directly about the sorry record of mammalian extinction, habitat destruction, climate change, coral bleaching.

“Australia is one of the world’s deforestation hotspots,” she said. “Between the year 2000 and 2017, Australia cleared over 7.7 million hectares of threatened species habitat across the country … When we destroy these habitats – and when we don’t restore them elsewhere – endangered creatures lose their homes – and that has consequences.”

She said it was essential that the government stop habitat destruction. This was the most cost-effective way to address the environmental crisis. “Too much clearing of habitat has already occurred. Too many ecosystems and species are under threat.”

Plibersek is no longer environment minister. She was replaced by a man who immediately began extending the life of fossil fuel projects. The land clearing continues. Scores of species are pushed closer to extinction. It is still not clear how much Labor’s new environment laws will help. The standards on which they will be based have not been released.

In the next 20 minutes, another football field of threatened species habitat will be bulldozed by miners. The night parrot will slip further towards extinction. The big numbers will go up and the small numbers will go down. Surely the government might pause to think: Is any of this worth it?

This article was first published in the print edition of The Saturday Paper on January 17, 2026 as "Dead parrot sketch".

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