Clockwise Cat Issue 40

site, and right to the fire-break where the power pylons run, across the road from the Whale
World turn-off. It will be an enormous development, and the impact on local wildlife will be
catastrophic.
Whilst we were there, frogs were calling in the undergrowth. Deprived of their “disturbed and
degraded” habitat, these frogs will die. The “advice notes” for the developers say that they should
try to provide “Management of displaced and/or injured animals, care of evicted pouch young and
humane killing of animals in field conditions if required.” In other words, when ringtailed possums
have their homes ripped out from under them, the developers are being requested to pass on
their babies to people like us to raise, or to kill them on the spot. Is Bio Diverse Solutions even
aware that carpet pythons also live in the area? And do they care at all about the frogs, in a world
where frog species are globally in terrible trouble?
One corner of the habitat has already been bulldozered: always a good way of ensuring that the
biodiversity “experts” can confidently describe a place as degraded when they arrive to do a
survey. This bulldozing is at the edge of the species rich Banksia heath, where I counted three
different species of sundew in a couple of minutes, despite the fact that these paths were foolishly
mown just before orchid-flowering season last year. Once again, there is no flora management
plan to prevent the spread of dieback and weeds into this area. I have included a picture of one of
the plaques, erected in 2001, when someone with some power actually appears to have cared
about flora, fauna and natural heritage enough to celebrate and seek to educate people about it.
This is indeed the area where Robert Brown, the naturalist on board Matthew Flinders’
Investigator, would have been scientifically describing all the plant species, no doubt in a state of
absolute euphoria and wonder. Before him, this land was cherished by its indigenous custodians.
But the people with power in Albany now do not cherish it. All they cherish is the opportunity to
make money, and all they will leave behind is devastation and a nice bit of distant coastal
scenery.
On the edge of the development area, overlooking the sea, is a memorial cross for someone’s
loved relative. The inscription says “Rest Easy”. I feel for the family who must, like me, have
assumed that such a beautiful place would never go under the bulldozer – that nobody would
ever be so callous and stupid. It is certainly going to be very difficult for the living to rest easy in
this place from now on.