The NSW government has abandoned a contentious piece of legislation in the final sitting period of this year, after it threatened to reignite a fight over koala protections within the state Coalition.
Last week, the government introduced a Private Native Forestry Bill to parliament, which was set to be debated this week.
It proposed changing the oversight of clearing native forest on private properties, cutting red tape for landowners.
Under the current law, a farmer needs to get approval from both their local council and a state authority.
The bill would have removed the requirement to go to council.
The ABC understands concerns had been raised internally by some moderate Liberal MPs about impact to koala habitat, with some considering crossing the floor.
National MP Geoff Provest then said publicly he couldn't support the bill because it was "going to be a backwards step".
Mr Provest is the member for Tweed on the state's north coast, which is directly impacted by koala policies.
Soon after Mr Provest announced he'd be crossing the floor, his National Party colleague, Agriculture Minister Dugald Saunders, announced the bill would be scrapped.
"While this bill upholds all existing protections for the environment, we will continue to have further conversations with local councils to progress legislation that unites communities and industry," he said.
Mr Saunders had carriage of the bill after a push from the Nationals was approved by cabinet last week.
Just hours before the bill was abandoned, deputy premier and Nationals leader Paul Toole spoke in its support.
"This is about making it easier, making it more consistent," he said.
"And taking away those duplicative processes that we're seeing happening from a council and a state level."
But Mr Provest disputed that.
"I haven't been advised once that there has been a problem with the dual consent," the Tweed MP said.
"So I don't know why we are touching something where there's not been a problem before."
Two years ago, the government endured a messy internal feud over land clearing and koala protections.
The Nationals, then led by John Barilaro, threatened to walk away from the Coalition agreement.
This time around the fight was over a different land clearing issue, and it was a Nationals MP who broke ranks publicly.
Earlier Monday, when questioned over internal concerns and whether the legislation would pass the parliament, the premier said he was "pretty relaxed".
"This bill is about striking the balance between sustainable farming and protection of habitat," Dominic Perrottet said.
The legislation was unlikely to pass to parliament because Labor and some crossbench MPs opposed the bill.
