Appeal to Environment Minister Murray Watt to save Woogaroo Forest

Making a call isn't as hard as you think. Keep it brief, respectful and simply say what you feel. See some of our talking points below. 

Phone calls hold the most weight because all calls are officially logged. Additionally, politicians track call volumes closely; if an office gets dozens of calls on a topic, they assume thousands of other community members feel the same way.  

Please mention: the reason you are calling is primarily in relation to EPBC referral 2019/8575 - Springview Village 2 & 3. This is the development Minister Watt is making a determination on any day now. If they ask you to email instead, just let them know you wish to be heard by phone. 

Contact Murray Watt's Ministerial office:

(02) 6277 7920

Possible Phone Script:

"I'm calling about Woogaroo Forest in Ipswich, Queensland. A federal decision is expected any day, and I'm asking Minister Watt to refuse the development referrals affecting the site. In particular, I'm referring to EPBC referral 2019/8575 - Springview Village 2 & 3.

Woogaroo Forest is home to over 1,000 species, including the endangered koala, vulnerable grey-headed flying foxes, critically endangered Lowland Rainforest, platypus and powerful owls, to name a few. Once this habitat is cleared, it's gone. It can't be meaningfully restored, and offsets can't replace it.

This has already drawn global support from over 300 scientists and experts, and more than 21,500 people have signed the petition. I'd like that recorded as a call in support of protecting Woogaroo Forest, and I'd like the Minister's office to refuse these referrals."

If your call goes longer, feel free to talk on these matters:

The scale of the problem

• Australia has the highest rate of mammal extinction of any country in the world, driven primarily by habitat destruction.
• Once functioning, intact habitat like Woogaroo Forest is cleared, it cannot be meaningfully restored on any relevant timeframe. Mature, hollow-bearing trees that koalas, owls and gliders depend on take decades or centuries to form.

What's at Woogaroo Forest specifically

• The koala (Queensland, NSW and ACT populations) has been listed as endangered under the EPBC Act since 12 February 2022. Habitat clearing is the leading cause of their decline.
• Woogaroo Forest is a functioning, intact ecosystem supporting over 1,000 species. It includes the endangered Koala, vulnerable Grey-Headed Flying Fox and the critically endangered Lowland Rainforest ecological community, along with platypus, powerful owls, gliders and regionally significant vegetation. It is also within the range of critically endangered Swift Parrots and Regent Honeyeaters. 

Why offsets aren't a solution

• Environmental offsets cannot replicate complex, established ecosystems and routinely fail to deliver equivalent ecological value. This isn't just an advocacy claim, it's a finding of the Commonwealth's own 2020 independent review of the EPBC Act (the Samuel Review), which concluded the offsets system is not delivering the outcomes it's meant to.

Why this is a legal question, not just a local one

• Federal environmental law exists specifically to protect vulnerable and endangered species from decisions like this.
• The Ipswich Springfield Development Control Plan, the state planning instrument being relied on to justify clearing, was gazetted in 1997. It predates the EPBC Act's current biodiversity protections, the koala's endangered listing, and decades of environmental science. A planning framework built before any of that existed should not be allowed to override it now.

Community support (useful if asked "who cares about this")

• Over 300 scientists and experts, including the original architect of the EPBC Act, Hon. Robert Hill (former Environment Minister of Australia), have signed an Expert Open Letter calling for the forest's protection.
• More than 21,500 people have signed the public petition.

If raised: "what about housing supply?"

• This campaign isn't opposed to growth in South-East Queensland; it's opposed to growth that destroys irreplaceable habitat when alternatives exist. Housing supply has options. A 450-hectare intact ecosystem with 1,000+ species does not. There is already substantial cleared, undeveloped land adjacent to the forest under developer ownership that has sat unused for years, land that could accommodate growth without clearing another hectare of irreplaceable habitat.

If you feel like you're on a roll, feel free to call these politicians too!

Shayne Neumann - Federal MP for Blair

07 3201 5300

Milton Dick - Federal MP for Oxley

07 3879 6440

Andrew Powell - QLD State Environment Minister

07 3719 7300

Teresa Harding - Mayor of Ipswich

07 3810 6011