New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet is standing by his government's environmental record after outgoing Liberal MP Catherine Cusack slammed its koala plan as "sheer madness" and "grotesque".
Ms Cusack made the claims during a parliamentary debate on Wednesday night in the state's Upper House on a Greens motion to create a "Great Koala Park" on the mid-north coast at Urunga.
The north coast-based MLC revealed conversations she had with then-premier Gladys Berejiklian and former environment minister Matt Kean during the infamous "koala wars" that almost fractured the coalition in 2020.
Ms Cusack said she was asked the lead the attack on the Nationals as the Liberals tried to pass the 2020 State Environmental Planning Policy [SEPP] into legislation but she was then sidelined.
She said she told the then-premier she would not support it and would cross the floor, so Gladys Berejiklian sent Matt Kean to speak to her.
"I was stunned and thought oh he was joking — but he wasn't," she said.
She said he then turned the conversation to his new renewable energy bill.
"And how he had broken through when no-one could, and I said, 'What about koalas?' and he said, 'I don't know anything about that — it is all [then-planning minister] Rob Stokes".
"And I said, 'Why did Gladys even send you up here?' He pretty much shrugged. He asked me what I was offered in exchange for my vote and I said, 'nothing'.
Ms Cusack told the parliamentary debate she now realised Mr Kean had secured Nationals support for his renewable energy plan and the Liberals had acquiesced to the Nationals' demands on koalas.
"The 1994 SEPP is still in force for all rural-zoned land," she said. "Only residential land has been protected, and hardly any koalas are assisted by that,"
'Shameless' and 'grotesque'
Ms Cusack note that koalas had recently had their threatened status updated to endangered.
"How can this government stand there and tell us with a straight face and tell us their strategy is succeeding?
Great Koala Park bill fails
The Greens welcomed Ms Cusack's support for their bill but failed to win backing from the government or the opposition.
The proposal would have combined state forest and national parklands to form a 315,000 hectare sanctuary on the mid north coast, providing protection for 20 per cent of the state's koala population.
During the debate on the Greens bill, Labor's Penny Sharpe said although the opposition "urgently supports the need to protect koala habitat", it could not support the Greens proposal.
"The bill, if passed put into the hands of an underfunded government department the creation of a national park that a hostile government does not want".
The bill was defeated and Greens MLC Cate Faehrmann lamented the result.
"Politics is always winning out over koalas and what we are seeing from the Labor Party is that it is more about politics than it is about koalas."
In March, Ms Cusack announced her intention to resign from parliament over the then-federal Coalition government's handling of the flooding disaster in the Northern Rivers.
In May, she said the earliest practical date for her resignation would be the first week of August.
Matt Kean rejects recollection
Mr Kean, who is now Treasurer, in question time on Thursday rejected Ms Cusack's account of their conversation.
Mr Perrottet said as an environment minister Mr Kean was "pretty good".
"In an area where Liberals and Nationals are not seen to be leaders when it comes to the environment, I think ... our environmental record here in our state is by far the best in the country and a lot of that is testament to the policies of Minister Kean."
The Premier said he met with Ms Cusack yesterday and still saw her as "valued member of our team" and respects her passion and how she expresses her views with "colour".
