Campaigns promoting Australia to the world normally run through a few regular tropes, but always include our unique wildlife. There is no question this nation is blessed with some incredible flora and fauna. And yet, it’s almost as if such an abundance of natural wonders has made us complacent and, based on growing evidence, utterly negligent.

It’s a stark fact, but among developed nations Australia is towards the bottom when it comes to protecting its biodiversity. Since colonisation, 104 species have been officially acknowledged as being extinct and that number is sure to grow, with more than 1900 animals, plants and ecological communities designated as at risk of becoming extinct.

What is troubling is that the problem is accelerating. Since 1985, Australia’s populations of threatened birds, mammals and plants have, on average, halved or worse. And it’s not just the obscure or unfamiliar that are under threat. After being listed 10 years ago in NSW, ACT and Queensland as vulnerable (faces a high risk of extinction in the medium term), the koala was elevated in February to an endangered species in NSW and Queensland. That means one of the nation’s most beloved animals is at high risk of being extinct in those two states in the short term.

But the koala is hardly alone. This year, the stocky gang-gang cockatoo was also added to the same list which includes the bogong moth, Australian sea lion, grey nurse shark and Wollemi pine. And few would be unaware of the threat to the Great Barrier Reef, which this year is believed to be experiencing its sixth mass bleaching.

The problem is not the lack of a remedy. As environment reporter Miki Perkins explains, a landmark review of Australia’s environment laws by former competition watchdog Professor Graeme Samuel found urgent reforms were needed to reverse the trend, declaring the laws as they stand are ineffective and “not fit to address current or future environmental challenges”. Samuel offers a range of recommendations, of which new, legally enforceable national environmental standards are the centrepiece. The government, in most part, has let the report collect dust.

The shortcomings of the present laws were evident when the koala was designated endangered. While the federal government did allocate $50 million for habitat restoration, population monitoring and research into koala health, it was not obliged, under law, to do anything to save the species. Most lesser-known animals confronted by the same threat face a grim future.

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As an election issue, climate change is struggling to rate a mention, let alone concern over protecting the flora and fauna of this country. The biggest threat is not the warming of the planet, although that is certainly not helping. Land clearing for urban and agricultural development, combined with feral predators, comprise the biggest threat.

That is where politics comes into play. As Perkins spells out, the National Party is committed to ensuring farmers retain control over land management and Labor is often supportive of unions whose members include those in the forestry industry. It’s a confluence of special interests that means protecting the nation’s native species is rarely a top priority, no matter what side of politics is in power.