Lisa Cox

Freshwater turtles rescued from a dried-up water hole in western New South Wales after the state government cut environmental water to the area are being returned home.

First H5 bird flu death of endangered Australian sea lion recorded amid fears for small population

Labor ditches new packaging laws to cut plastic waste, sparking unprecedented ‘scale and breadth of outrage’ www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The Victorian government sat on a report for more than 12 months that found the state’s koalas were in chronically poor health.

Albanese’s resources minister celebrating the Beetaloo carbon bomb is a hell of a choice. Labor can’t say it wasn’t warned | Clear Air

important www.theguardian.com/environment/...

The New South Wales water regulator has cast doubt over its ability to prosecute potential water theft due to uncertainty about the validity of licences governing billions of litres of water entitlements in the state’s north.

Scientists have expressed their fears for Australia’s endangered sea lions after first detections of H5 bird flu in long-nosed fur seals in South Australia.

A long-nosed fur seal has died from H5 bird flu in South Australia, marking the first confirmed case in a mammal on the Australian mainland. The seal was found dead at Beachport on Wednesday on the state’s Limestone Coast.

Pelicans, seagulls, black swans. We spoke to experts about some of the birds they are most concerned face serious risk from H5 bird flu. It includes some of Australia’s most common and loved species.

Little penguin found dead with H5 bird flu on Victoria’s Phillip Island

A little penguin has died from H5 bird flu on Victoria’s Phillip Island.

More than 80 dead and sick birds seen on rocks off the South Australian coast are suspected to be the first mass mortality event from the deadly H5N1 bird flu virus, only six weeks after the disease arrived in Australia.

The NSW independent planning commission’s public forums are unique in Australia. I watched three days of hearings as the commission considers the state’s largest proposed coalmine extension.

Days after winning the 2023 NSW election, premier Chris Minns and senior state ministers visited Menindee and committed to an investigation of mass fish deaths. But the state government’s plan to improve river flows and restore the Darling-Baaka is in doubt.

The last continent: how deadly bird flu travelled the world before landing on a remote Australian beach

“The Northern Territory is out of sight – and often out of mind – for many Australians. But for 18 months, environment, First Nations, justice and family groups have been sounding the alarm with increasing urgency.”

There's a link to the full statement on the MEAA website now: www.meaa.org/Public/Conte...

MEAA condemns the continuing treatment of journalist Sarah Martin by One Nation leader Pauline Hanson. Journalists must be able to do their job without fear of intimidation, exclusion, or personal attack. This is a moment for us to stand together and hold the line on press freedom. meaa.io/3SbzRlK

Concerns over US company’s gas fracking plan for world’s most intact tropical savanna in WA revealed

World’s biggest miner BHP backtracks on climate action with key projects put on ice, leaked documents reveal www.theguardian.com/world/2026/m...

Yes, this was *always* going to be the problem. Basically, what we’ve got now is a sustainable feral horse harvest. They should be completely removed from all national parks. www.theguardian.com/australia-ne... - @lisacox.bsky.social

Water flows to parched New South Wales wetlands where an urgent rescue mission to save dying wildlife unfolded are a step closer to resuming after legislation passed the state parliament’s upper house.

Emails reveal the New South Wales government has repeatedly delayed environmental flows to critical wetlands in the state’s Gwydir region in favour of winter cereal crops despite admitting it could harm breeding cycles of frogs and endangered birds and damage local ecosystems.

Environment groups have raised concerns about the latest draft of a national environmental standard for threatened species, ecosystems and world heritage areas.

Two state govts failed to deliver river improvements in the northern Murray-Darling 8 years after they were promised, an audit has found. This includes failure by the NSW govt to secure any private land access needed to improve flows in the Gwydir region, where turtles were rescued last week.

A leading scientist has criticised an “appalling” New South Wales government agency decision to stop water flowing to wetlands in the state’s north-west, saying it was “absolutely crazy” that researchers had to scramble to save animals buried in drying mud.

An “incomprehensible” disaster is unfolding at wetlands in New South Wales after the state water agency abruptly stopped environmental flows in the state’s north-west, leading to the deaths of turtles, waterbirds, frogs and sheep.

Worth some attention and further questions amid everything else, imo www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

The environment minister, Murray Watt, has given the green light for the bulldozing of nearly 3,000 hectares of tropical savanna in the Northern Territory without an assessment under Australia’s nature laws.

The Australia government’s decision to allow Alcoa to continue clearing WA forest was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year. A document also shows the environment dept had told Alcoa since 2011 its clearing required approval.

The Aus govt’s decision to allow Alcoa to continue clearing swathes of WA jarrah forest despite its illegal clearing practices was made in part due to a critical minerals deal reached between Australia and the Trump administration last year, a new document shows. By @lisacox.bsky.social

Extreme heat lab: Enduring the climate of the future with @readfearn.bsky.social www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Property developers in Perth plan to bulldoze an endangered banksia ecosystem used by threatened black cockatoo species, and conservationists have warned the damage cannot be mitigated by proposed offsets. The developers want to replant the ecosystem within a different type of protected woodland.

Environment minister hands “unprecedented” penalty to Alcoa but grants national interest exemption for further clearing of WA forest.

Australia projected to miss 2035 emissions reduction target ‘by a country mile’ unless it ramps up climate policies

Big day.

The rewriting of Australia’s nature laws comes as a relief, yet I can’t help feel a sense of foreboding. By Georgina Woods

First take on EPBC amendments in the compromise deal struck to get it passed Justine Bell-James, @euanritchie.bsky.social, @drphilmccormack.bsky.social & me in @aunz.theconversation.com #NativeForestLogging #MinisterialDiscretion #UnacceptableImpacts #PayToDestroy #NationalEnvironmentalStandards

Quick explainer on some of the main features of the new nature laws, noting some details remain to be seen

With Lisa Cox's years of detailed investigations & reporting, there's ZERO excuse to NOT KNOW the many & varied failures of NSW's biodiversity offset scheme Choosing to repeat these mistakes is contempt of public interest biodiversity policy #EPBC #BiodiversityOffsets #PayToDestroy

The Albanese government’s nature reforms would change biodiversity offsets policy, including by setting up a “restoration contributions” fund. Guardian Australia reporting exposed major failures with a similar scheme in NSW. Experts are warning the federal plan could repeat those mistakes

Oil and gas giant Inpex has proposed Australia’s largest carbon capture facility in waters off the Northern Territory. By @petrastock.bsky.social

www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

Back from leave with some analysis of the government’s nature legislation

One postmortem shows one of the koalas had a joey when she was translocated. The joey was found dead in her pouch during a health check after the first koala deaths in April but the adult female was re-released. She was found on the ground in the forest in late May and died on the way to the vet.

Exclusive: The NSW government rejected advice from an expert scientific panel before it attempted a failed reintroduction of koalas to a forest in the state’s south. 8 out of 13 koalas died, one more than the govt claimed, with postmortems showing emaciation and “undernutrition”.

‘Baudin’s or bauxite?’ Stark warning black cockatoo won’t survive mining expansion

‘So tiny and so vulnerable’: what chance will one of Australia’s smallest birds have against a rocket launchpad? by @lisacox.bsky.social #birdoftheyear #birds www.theguardian.com/environment/...