‘Koala War’ threatens to bring down government of New South Wales

The koala population of New South Wales was hit hard by the last bushfire season

Credit: William West/AFP

A deepening disagreement over a plan to save koalas is threatening to bring down the government of the Australian state of New South Wales.

The koala strategy, launched in late August, protects trees that provide food and habitat for the beloved marsupials, among other measures. 

The state’s population of the iconic animals suffered a severe blow during the last bushfire season, vast swathes of habitat destroyed and thousands of koalas killed.

But what began as a seemingly uncontroversial protection plan is now at the centre of a dispute that has been dubbed ‘the Koala War’ by Australian press. 

The opening salvo was launched on Thursday by John Barilaro, the leader of the junior partner in the state’s coalition, who said his National Party would no longer back government legislation if the plan remained in effect. 

Insisting that the party was not "anti-koala", he claimed the strategy undermined property rights of landowners and said Nationals MPs would sit on the crossbenches of parliament if it was not rescinded.

The move would render Premier Gladys Berejiklian’s Liberal administration a minority government.

Ms Berejiklian fired back that the party’s ministers would be expelled from the cabinet if it did so, warning that Mr Barilaro and his colleagues had until 9am on Friday to abandon their plan.

Earlier this month, Nationals MP Chris Gulaptis flagged his party’s concerns about the koala strategy, which includes an increase in the number of tree species protected from 10 to 123.

On Thursday, Mr Barilaro said his party “stands for a thriving koala population”.

“We actually want to see the population double. We are not anti-koala. We think a [policy] like this is somehow a way to sanitise the regions, attack the property rights of landholders and do absolutely nothing to support koalas,” he said.

Liberal MP Catherine Cusack told the ABC that the Nationals’ strategy is “100 per cent bullying”.

“I think it’s fair to say Liberal members … are really stunned and bewildered by this extraordinary behaviour by the leader of the National Party.”

Late on Thursday night, it was reported that the state premier had walked into a room with four Nationals MPs, including Mr Barilaro who serves as her deputy, and told them she’d “never been so disgusted” in more than three years of working with them.

Mr Barilaro said the Nationals MPs would meet again early on Friday morning before deciding whether to press ahead with their threat.

The Koala Habitat Protection State Environment Planning Policy has a A$44.7million (£25.03 million) budget, including A$20 million (£11.2 million) for purchasing and permanently conserving land in the national park system that contains priority koala habitat.

Landholders interested in selling a property to National Parks and Wildlife Service are being encouraged to lodge an expression of interest, and can also enter into a voluntary private land conservation agreement with the Biodiversity Conservation Trust to protect koala habitat on their land.