James Troeth, Bryant's Forestry and Earth Moving face court on koala killings

Lawyers for the landowner James Troeth and business Bryant's Forestry and Earth Moving appeared in Warrnambool Magistrates Court on Friday, October 6.

The two parties were charged by the conservation regulator in 2021 with animal cruelty offences after the alleged mass killing of koalas at a Cape Bridgewater blue gum plantation in February 2020.

The charges included aggravated cruelty which carries a maximum penalty of more than $200,000 for a business and $90,000 or two years' jail for an individual.

Mr Troeth and Bryant's are accused of clearing habitat which wounded and caused unreasonable pain or suffering to dozens of koalas. They were also charged with destroying koalas which are a protected species.

A lawyer for Bryant's said the defence and prosecution had come to a resolution and the business would plead guilty to charges on November 16.

Magistrate Gerard Lethbridge booked the matter off for a one-hour plea hearing on that date.

He was then told Mr Troeth planned to contest the charges and was asked to book the matter in for a 10-day hearing.

The magistrate said the prospects of that were "very unlikely".

"We have far too many people in custody desperately trying to get heir cases on without clogging it up with a 10-day hearing like this," he said.

He said he was confident the parties would be able to reduce the number of witnesses and the time required with the assistance of active case management.

The court heard the summary of the offending was 75 pages long.

Mr Troeth's matter was adjourned for a two-hour contest mention hearing on November 17.

He will appear in court again on that day.

James Grey, representing Mr Troeth, previously told the court his client was the owner of the property where Bryant's operated the bulldozer which "did the actual clearing" of habitat.

"They are very different functions and these are two very different roles, they should not be treated the same in any in any possible resolution negotiations," he said.

The third co-accused Hutchinson Rural Contractors, of Portland, was fined $20,000 on a single charge of animal cruelty relating to clearing habitat in December 2022.

The charges were laid after a koala population was devastated during the clean-up of a Cape Bridgewater bluegum plantation in February 2020.

It's alleged in late January and early February 2020 koalas were found to be suffering malnutrition and dehydration and without intervention the population would have starved within two months.

When the intervention happened about 70 koalas were found to be dead or had to be euthanised after there were 227 found alive.

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