A Drum Rebellion-organised action outside federal Environment and Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s office on August 2 urged her to protect kangaroos.
Activists presented the minister with a letter outlining that the marsupial is the victim of cruel harvesting practices. This means that the kangaroo population is in deep decline: the once common western grey kangaroo, eastern grey kangaroos, wallaroos and red kangaroos are now considered rare.
More than 40,000 kangaroos were killed each month last year in New South Wales for leather, meat and pet food, the letter said.
Activist John Kelly said Nike uses hundreds of thousands of skins for its expensive soccer boots. Kelly also reminded Plibersek of her own Press Club speech in July that this country has the worst rate of animal extinction on earth.
[Drum Rebellion holds actions outside Tanya Plibersek’s office in Redfern every Tuesday.]