Shocking investigation reveals one million hectares of Queensland forest bulldozed under the Albanese Government

A new investigation by the Wilderness Society has revealed that one million hectares of Queensland forest and bushland have been bulldozed since the Albanese Government took office—most of it to make way for beef pasture.

The investigation exposes widespread destruction of threatened species habitat and forests within Great Barrier Reef catchments, with almost half of all deforestation in Queensland occurring in Reef catchments (450,000 hectares) since the Albanese Government took office in May 2022. The study highlights the urgent need for the Albanese Government to close deforestation loopholes as it prepares to introduce amendments to Australia’s environmental law next month.

Land clearing neear West Warwick

Using geospatial technology and on-ground verification, the Wilderness Society identified 26 major landclearing events between 2022 and 2025 across Queensland—a sample of the estimated one million hectares of forest and bushland destroyed while the Albanese Government has been in office. These events collectively flattened more than 5,500 hectares of mapped threatened species habitat, including forests home to at least 54 federally-listed threatened species including the koala, greater glider and red goshawk.

Most of the detected landclearing was never referred to the Federal Government for assessment under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation (EPBC) Act, despite laws requiring referral when threatened species habitat is significantly impacted.

Sam Szoke-Burke, Biodiversity Policy and Campaign Manager for the Wilderness Society, said: “We give the Albanese government an ‘F’ for preventing deforestation to date and urge them to take action before it is too late. Australia sits alongside the Amazon and Borneo as a deforestation hotspot and the horrifying rates of deforestation have continued under the Albanese government. As the Albanese government plans to introduce changes to federal nature laws, it is critical that the laws are strengthened to finally stop deforestation and protect Australia’s unique forests and bushland, and the unique and diverse species that call them home.

“The majority of deforestation we detected occurred without any assessment or oversight by the federal government. It should not be left to citizen scientists and organisations like the Wilderness Society to do the government’s job and monitor the destruction of threatened species habitat.

“Aussie families don’t expect to be eating a burger or steak that has come from bulldozed koala habitat. The Albanese government needs to start prioritising nature and protecting Australia’s threatened species, climate and communities from the ongoing impacts of deforestation. They can stop the bulldozers, and would be cheered on by the vast majority of Australians for doing so.” 

The worst-affected areas include Rockhampton, Bundaberg and Warwick, where thousands of hectares of functioning forest and bushland have been razed for beef pasture.

Nearly half of Queensland’s deforestation is occurring in Great Barrier Reef catchments, where sediment and pollution from bulldozed land smothers coral ecosystems and threaten Reef recovery. This month, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) again graded the conservation status of the Great Barrier Reef as critical—the worst status available.

The findings show that federal regulators are failing to detect and act on potentially illegal deforestation, leaving environment organisations to do the government’s job.

Australia’s deforestation rate is among the highest in the developed world. Every patch of lost forest and bushland pushes Australia’s unique wildlife closer to extinction while accelerating climate change.

The Wilderness Society says the findings highlight the need for stronger federal laws and enforcement to stop ongoing deforestation.

 The Wilderness Society is calling on the Australian Government to: 

• ensure all habitat destruction is assessed by removing deforestation legal loopholes like the disastrous ‘continuations of use’ clause in Australia’s nature law, which has been interpreted by the government to provide an endless license for habitat destruction.
• strengthen environmental compliance and enforcement
• support a National Deforestation Monitoring Program, and
• ensure agricultural products are tracked from ‘farm-to-fork’ via a mandatory traceability system.

This Report Card comes ahead of Woolworths’ Annual General Meeting later this month, where the Wilderness Society has filed a shareholder resolution calling on the supermarket to disclose and address deforestation risks in its beef supply chains. The organisation says strong corporate action is essential to ending deforestation across Queensland and beyond.

The Wilderness Society works to protect, promote and restore wilderness and natural processes across Australia for the survival and ongoing evolution of life on Earth. For decades, it has monitored deforestation across Queensland and campaigned for stronger laws to protect forests, wildlife and the Great Barrier Reef.