Voices For Natur‪e‬ Nature Conservation Council of NSW

Last year anti-koala legislation was defeated by a one vote in the NSW Upper House. The crucial vote was Liberal MLC The Hon. Catherine Cusack, who crossed the floor to vote against her own government’s bill, and lost her position as a parliamentary secretary as a result.

Catherine explains why she decided to cross the floor to save koalas, opens up about the personal repercussions of this act, and how she thinks politics needs to change to better serve the community and environment.

The Hon. Catherine Cusack MLC Catherine Cusack was first elected to the NSW Legislative Council in 2003. She has served as Shadow Minister Climate Change and Environmental Sustainability, and has served as a parliamentary secretary in recent Liberal Governments. Ms Cusack was removed as Parliamentary Secretary in November 2020 after she crossed the floor on the controversial Local Land Services Amendment Bill 2020. She received wide support for her strong stance, from across the globe and forced her own government back to the drawing board to better protect the habitat of Koalas.

What is ‘floodplain harvesting’? How does it impact on rivers? Is the NSW Government about to repeat the tragic mistake of over-allocating water on our dry continent?

Hear from two experts who have been tracking the growth of private dams by satellite and have an urgent warning about impending tragedy for our rivers and wetlands.

This week we are in Broken Hill to talk to two water experts, Maryanne Slattery a former Director of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, and Bill Johnson, who has worked for 30 years in water management and policy for the NSW and Commonwealth Governments, about the impact of the floodplain harvesting and its impending legalisation

What is it like to watch the river you love slowly die through mismanagement, corruption and climate change?

NCC Chief Executive Chris Gambian and NCC Organising Director Jacqui Mumford chat with two graziers from the Australian Floodplain Association, Stuart Le Lievre and Justin McClure who rely on the Murray-Darling system to keep their farms healthy and productive. River flows have reduced significantly over the past 40 years.

We need to amplify the voices of people in the far west to ensure the NSW Government does the right thing for people and the environment.

Listen to the voices of the people who watched the river run dry.

Welcome to the Voices for Nature Podcast — Cocktails, Controversy and Conservation.

In this show, Chris Gambian and Jacqui Mumford talk to some great guests about some of the best stories of our movement.

Expect to be inspired, challenged and hopefully, entertained.

Why cocktails? Well, this was supposed to be drinks after work in our new offices in Chippendale in Sydney. A few people, a good chat, a nice drink.

But then COVID hit, and drinks after work became, well, life threatening.

We’ve been the voice for nature for 65 years and now you can hear that voice from the convenience of your headphones.

Hit the subscribe button now and make sure you tell your friends by sharing this trailer across this wide brown land!

Nature Conservation Council of NSW Chief Executive, Chris Gambian and Organising Director, Jacqui Mumford were joined by Dr. Rebecca Huntley, one of Australia’s foremost researchers on social trends for the first instalment of Cocktails, Controversy and Conservation: How to talk about climate change.

In this podcast, we discuss how to talk about climate change in a way that makes a difference.