Wednesday 12th April 2023
Australian Ethical dumps Lendlease over koala habitat concerns
The ethical money manager says Lendlease failed to provide information required to independently assess the impact of its planned development in Mt Gilead, an area deemed critical to the survival of a resident koala colony.
Investment manager Australian Ethical has drawn a line in the sand and divested out of Lendlease Group, after its concerns around the listed property behemoth’s plan to develop land for housing in Western Sydney will negatively impact koala habitats.
The ethical investment group recently announced it has sold its debt and equity positions in the Lendlease Group and its related vehicles, and will sell its stake in Lendlease’s Australian Prime Property Fund (Retail) at the first available opportunity.
Australian Ethical’s discontent stems from Lendlease’s failure to provide information required to independently assess the impact of its planned development in Mt Gilead, an area which the Office of the NSW Chief Scientist and Engineer (OSCE) says is critical to the survival of a resident koala colony.
Australian Ethical had previously used its stake in Lendlease to try and move the needle with the property group on its plans, and in 2022 put out a public statement urging the NSW government and Lendlease to be transparent about the planned width of habitat corridors for the koala colony in Mt Gilead.
Despite the NSW government’s own environmental protection agency, the Environment and Heritage Group, finding that the existing Lendlease proposal for the land didn’t meet the OSCE’s recommendations, the property firm failed to provide the requested information.
“For over four years we have used our shareholdings in Lendlease to encourage it to strengthen koala protections,” stated Amanda Richman, ethical stewardship lead at Australian Ethical. “But Australian Ethical cannot continue to support a company that appears to be failing to take biodiversity protection seriously”.
Eventually, and in line with its own ethical charter, Australian Ethical decided to pull the pin on its relationship with Lendlease.
“We’ve made it clear that we would continue to advocate until we had exhausted all avenues with Lendlease to improve koala protections and/or until there was no prospect of changing their mind through engagement,” a company statement read. “We have now reached that point.”
