Commonsense has trumped political pandering today, with the announcement that cattle grazing will not be allowed in Victoria’s iconic Alpine National Park. After a massive outcry from people across Victoria and Australia, the Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke decided to step in and end the ill-conceived scheme.

With the region currently being considered for World Heritage and National Heritage listing, we have written to Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke requesting urgent intervention to ensure that high natural and cultural values are not destroyed while community consultation for these listings is underway.

How would you feel if you were given a stay of execution – only to find the executioners turning up to take you away regardless? Tragically, that’s what’s happening to high conservation value forests in Tasmania right now.

The little Leadbeater’s possum, Victoria’s faunal emblem and already under threat of extinction due to intensive logging and bushfires, now looks set to being fast tracked to extinction by the Baillieu Government.