The Federal Environment Department approved the clearing of more than 75 hectares of critical koala habitat west of Brisbane in breach of its own policy. Documents obtained under Freedom of Information laws by the Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) reveal two housing developments in the Ipswich area "lacked consistency" with the Environment Department's own policy on environmental offsets. Environmental scientist Dr Philip Gibbons, from the Australian National University, thinks the department is not doing its job.

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