1) Bandicoots are very special marsupials. One of the most ancient kind, with no clear relationships elsewhere.

They are generally cat-sized, but are extraordinary in many ways. They are the only marsupials with a placenta. They have the shortest gestation time (about 12 days) of any mammal on earth.

They are also good for gardens. The holes they dig in lawns are excavated in search of grass-destroying insect larvae.

They are terrestrial, mostly insect-eaters, unique to Australasia.

As a group, they have suffered more extinction than any other marsupial. Three of 11 species are already extinct. That's more than 25%.

NSW has lost 4 of its 7 species - more than 50%.

The Long-nosed bandicoot has proven to be the most resilient of NSW species, but even it has not been safe from range retractions.

Long-nosed bandicoots are the last bandicoots to persist in the Sydney Harbour catchment. Even 20 years ago they were found at number of locations. Today, all of the catchment's bandicoots live within a few kilometres Manly.

There have been bandicoots living around this harbour for 40 million years. Tonight, we will discuss what might be the dying moments of that of that unimaginably long tenure. By what moral right are we making such decisions? Will our children thank us for our decision?

Their loss will be a tragedy for the city.

It will not be the first. As late as 1963 eastern quolls - cat-sized, spotted carnivorous marsupials existed at Nielsen Park. They were the last of their kind in eastern Australia. The people of Sydney let them slide into extinction.

Can you imagine what it would mean to the city to have them there today? One of Australia's most endangered mammals, living in the heart of the city?

What is the situation at North Head? The Catholic Church believes that 5 to 10 bandicoots live on St Patrick's Estate, and that 10 to 200 live in the whole area. Their developmnent thus threatens up to 10% of the population. This savage cut among a thousand savage cuts which have left our city almost without bandicoots.

What is not kown is how important those 10 bandicoots are. Is their path the best? Does most recruitment into the population come from there? Is it an important refuge during droughts?

What this all adds up to is that Lend Lease & the Catholic Church are willling to further endanger a threatened population for the sake of 50 more houses in Sydney.

I ask you, is the deal worth it?

We are looking at catastrophic failure of our systems to protect something very dear to the people of Sydney. A Sydney without bandicoots is hardly an Australian city. It has compromised upon something invaluable.