The topic of Port Stephens' koala population has been thrown back and forth in political debate over the last few days.
The NSW Threatened Species Scientific Committee listed the species as 'endangered' earlier this year but released their final determination for koalas to remain classified as 'vulnerable' due to recent state biodiversity conservation legislation.
Member for Port Stephens Kate Washington, says the state government's new conservation laws negate the area's population from being listed as endangered in the future.
'It beggars the belief that the new laws effectively prohibits our local koala population from being listed as endangered. It's not that they aren't endangered anymore, it's just that this government has been so irresponsible, as to remove the ability to be officially called 'endangered'.
Premier Gladys Berejiklian has fought back today saying the government has done no such thing, and a soon-to-be conducted audit should reveal the species' numbers across NSW.
'We've invested $10 million to increase the presence of koalas across the state, and we haven't changed the status, we're making the status equal with how the Commonwealth defines it.
'Enough research hasn't been done in the past to see how many koalas we do have across the state, and we're now putting in the funding to find that out.'
President of Port Stephens Koalas Carmel Northwood says the species needs to be protected.
'[Koalas] can no longer be listed as endangered in the future because of the legislation. If a certain species is in trouble, you should be able to identify that, but it seems you can't do that anymore.'
The Scientific Committee has confirmed that under the new laws, koalas in New South Wales cannot be re-classified as endangered, even if the population is found to have decreased.
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