I recently met with representatives from the Inner West Movement for Life and Inner West Chapter of the Wilderness Society, organisations committed to protecting our natural world, both across the length and breadth of the State, but also in our own backyard in the inner west.

Specifically, they raised the looming threat to some of NSW's most vulnerable wilderness posed by the NSW Government's potential release of surrounding areas for coal exploration.

They raised concern that many of the eight areas flagged for possible coal exploration in the Government's Strategic Release Framework are immediately adjacent to national parks, including the Wollemi National Park, the largest wilderness area in NSW, and the World Heritage listed Blue Mountains National Park.

They note the international significance of these extraordinary wild places, and that some of the areas flagged for exploration are struggling to recover from bushfires and recent storm activity, and specifically raised the concern that mining exploration in these areas could further undermine efforts to protect the iconic Wollemi Pine.

I thank the Inner West Movement for Life and Inner West Chapter of the Wilderness Society for their persistent and principled advocacy for our natural world.