Greens MP Brad Pettitt said it was a “softball approach” by the then-minister and called on current Environment Minister Reece Whitby to review this project and put solutions in place to prevent an avoidable and foreseeable extinction.
He said the developer could initiate a new independent ecological survey that included invertebrates and develop a new management plan to minimise potential impacts on the peacock spider.
Elavale Estate works are clearing coastal dune vegetation in which the Maratus Yanchep has been found. Credit: RP Data, left; Michael Lun Photography, right (composite image)
“Standing back and letting the likely extinction of this amazing species play out before our eyes should not be an option,” he said.
Pettitt wrote to Whitby to share concerns raised with his office about validity of the development’s environmental approvals.
He said the original development was approved in 1991 with the condition that should the proponent not substantially start the project within five years, the approval would lapse.
It also stated that unless the proponent successfully requested an extension within that five-year period, a new referral to the EPA would be required.
“No such referral is evident. An updated referral would have required fresh ecology surveys which may have identified the presence of maratus Yanchep,” he said.
“Consequently, a newly discovered species, thought to be endemic to that specific location, is at risk of imminent extinction.”
Perth’s northwest corridor is expanding rapidly with the population in Eglinton alone expected to more than triple to over 24,000 residents by 2046.
In October 2022, federal environment minister Tanya Plibersek committed to preventing further native species extinctions and create an Environment Protection Agency to assess development proposals and a second organisation called Environment Information Australia, which would provide public data on ecosystems, plants and animals.
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During his visit to Perth, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said the Government was open to a compromise with the Coalition that would make the new body, Environment Protection Australia, a compliance-only watchdog rather than also having a decision-making role in approvals.
Peet declined to comment.
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