Division is emerging within the New South Wales Coalition over a Nationals bill to make it easier for landowners to destroy koala habitat, with the environment minister, James Griffin, refusing to publicly support the proposal and a Liberal colleague condemning native forestry logging.
The proposed law – introduced to parliament this week by the agriculture minister, Dugald Saunders – would strip councils of their powers to regulate native forestry operations on private land.
On Thursday, Labor told Guardian Australia it would not support the changes, citing ecological concerns and a lack of community consultation.
Asked three times during question time about the bill – and once explicitly if he supported it – Griffin would not answer and instead spruiked the government’s environmental record.
The North Shore Liberal MP, Felicity Wilson, used a private member’s statement on Thursday evening to raise “deep concerns” about the future native forests and wildlife, including koalas.
She said the state should “transition the native forestry industry towards sustainable plantations”.
“When the industry is facing [a] challenge to financial viability, coupled with the environmental impacts and alternative positive employment industry benefits, the decision to transition out of native forestry becomes a clearer, more obvious and more necessary reality,” she told parliament.
“There’s so much for us to gain from our native forests – storing more carbon, being more bushfire resilient, creating a range of industries and employment opportunities and obviously reducing greenhouse gas emissions.”
In a statement, the opposition’s environment spokesperson, Penny Sharpe, and natural resources spokesperson, Courtney Houssos, accused the government of rushing the legislation through in the final six sitting days of the parliamentary term.
“This bill does not provide a considered response to the many issues confronting the timber industry or a clear strategy for its future,” they said.
“This bill has not had any consultation with key stakeholders, in particular local government, who it directly affects. Labor also opposes this bill because it weakens environment protection for biodiversity, in particular for koalas.”
Local Government NSW has already taken aim at the bill, calling it a “repeat of the infamous ‘koala wars’ of 2020” and saying it had been rushed.
Independent MPs, including Justin Field and Alex Greenwich, and teal-styled candidates, including Karen Freyer in Vaucluse, jumped to oppose it, saying it would be a key campaign issue at the March poll.
The Coalition can probably count on the support of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party and One Nation, meaning the bill would pass if all government MPs vote in favour.
But former Liberal MP Catherine Cusack has urged moderate Liberals to take a stand against the bill and cross the floor.
“Moderate Liberals should be crossing the floor because this is a complete betrayal of what the overwhelming majority of Liberal voters would expect of their elected MPs,” she said.
“It’s about time they started standing up for what the community wants, not what the National party wants.”
Cusack, who was a vocal opponent of the bill in its former iteration when she was still in parliament, vowed to door-knock and letter-drop in Griffin’s seat of Manly “so that everyone is in no doubt at all” over his role in the legislation.
Under environmental planning laws, councils have the power to require landowners to obtain a development approval if they wish to undertake logging on their properties.
Saunders’ proposal would remove that power from councils, which Field said would open up more industrial native forest logging on private land, including in koala habitat.
Labor called on the government to instead respond to the timber inquiry report that was tabled last month.
The premier, Dominic Perrottet, has insisted the plan had been supported “unanimously” in the cabinet room.
“It shows a government working together in coalition that balances the needs to provide farmers with support for renewable faming efforts, at the same time protecting koalas’ natural habitat,” he said on Wednesday.
