‘A symbol of our nation’: waratah among 20 more species added to Australia’s threatened wildlife list

‘It’s hard to imagine that the Gibraltar Range waratah is under threat,’ says environment minister Tanya Plibersek, who has listed 20 more species and one ecological community as endangered. Photograph: Geoffrey Derrin

Twenty more plants and animals, including a type of waratah, have been added to Australia’s list of threatened wildlife, bringing the total number of endangered species and ecosystems to almost 2,250.

The fresh listings come as the government faces a battle to pass legislation for a new national environment watchdog in the Senate, while Labor has also been under pressure from the Greens and Coalition about delays to a broader package of reforms to the country’s environment laws.