Columnist ROBERT MACKLIN says he’s never set eyes on one of the imperilled little Canberra grassland earless dragons, “but would now defend the species’ right to life as passionately as I would a koala’s”.
When I first heard of the kerfuffle over the fate of the earless lizard – some 27 years ago – I honestly thought it was a joke.
Over the decades since, as the environment enthusiasts have raised its continued reptilian existence to an issue of high spiritual and political moment, I’ve become a dedicated person.
I have never set eyes on one of the little chaps, but would now defend the species’ right to life as passionately as I would a koala’s.
Koalas are cute, but we humans retain a “lizard brain”. While the koala’s cerebellum chooses to doze for 23 hours out of 24, we and the lizard have our “fight or flight” instinct whenever danger threatens. And nothing is more threatening than building a road over where we live. That’s NIMBY in spades.
Until now, a protective government has resisted the Canberra Airport Group’s pressure to destroy the vital habitat of Canberra’s very own lizard, whose hold on existence is tenuous at best. Alas, in their struggle to retain government support, the Friends of the Grasslands Earless Lizard have made a couple of basic mistakes.
One was their decision to call it the Earless Dragon. In the mind’s eye, there’s a mighty big difference between the tiny seven-centimetre head and body length of a earless lizard, and a dragon of the same size. Dragons breathe fire and those who kill them are mostly saints. Whereas a seven-centimetre lizard reminds us of a friendly Gecko.
The other mistake was to direct their fire against a plethora of lizardry dangers.
For example, the latest plea by the worthy executive director of the Conservation Council, Dr Simon Copland, blames “increasing road kill, increasing predation and dividing the population into two fragments, each too small to survive”.
It would be far better (I suggest) to blame the great road busting machines crushing the poor little hard-of-hearing lizards and their even tinier offspring in their humble tunnels.
The other problem, I suspect, is the power of the airline and airport industry in our fair land… and the dollars they bring to the negotiating table.
The lizard supporters directed their lobbying to the then Labor Environment Ministers Peter Garrett and Tanya Plibersek, and Sussan Ley when the Libs ran the show.
And you will not be surprised to hear that while they hummed and harred, Prime Minister Scott Morrison intervened on behalf of the airlines and the Canberra Airport Group.
It didn’t matter that the earless lizard defenders had some runs on the board, Morrison was deaf to their pleas.
Vice-president of Friends of Grasslands, an obviously tearful Matt Whiting, says: “With so few of our earless dragons [read lizards] left in the wild, the loss of even one individual threatens the whole species.
“This case is a travesty. This northern road is entirely unnecessary. The loss of our earless dragon [read lizard] is avoidable.”
Dr Copland backs him up: “The arguments in favour of this road are rubbish. No expensive breeding program can replace the need to retain quality habitat for our earless dragon [read lizard].
The current PM Anthony Albanese has not yet shown his hand. But if the flying fortress of Australia’s international goodwill could ponder the fate of the little mother-and-son lizards each time his aircraft passes over their shuddering home as he sets forth on yet another mission, perhaps he’ll find it in his heart to save them.
I really think he’s that kind of guy.
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