An example is the push by the NSW Nationals to wind back their government’s new laws that expanded the definition of koala habitat,followingadvice from ecologists who conducted a scientific assessment.

NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes expanded the definition of tree species listed as koala habitat from 10 to 123 across the state but,following lobbying from developers and farmers,the Nationals stepped in andthe law was rescinded.

Data from a national census could,potentially,be used by a federal minister to assess state-approved development under Commonwealth protections for listed threatened species like koalas - and potentially prevent the"death by a thousand cuts” scenario which is often raised by ecologists.

The phrase is often used to criticise clearing approvals which were judged to have a minimal impact on a species'population across its range - but the greater impact within a particular region were not taken into account.

However,it remains to be seen how the federal government utilises the koala census.

Chairwoman of the independent Threatened Species Scientific Committee,Emeritus Professor Helene Marsh,said there are"lots of places where koalas occur where we know very,very little"about the species and the census was a “very significant move by the minister”.

“It will enable us to have the empirical data on what are the most important populations in the region,and will set a firm baseline for trends,” Professor Marsh said. “It will put the whole koala strategy at national level on a completely different footing than it's been in the past.”

Professor Marsh said it was impossible to “lock up the whole range of koala habitat” across the eastern states,but she said the “problem is soluble and that there will have to be some trade-offs,but the threats will be different in different places”.

Ms Ley acknowledged there would be “nay sayers” who viewed the policy as window dressing,or even downgrade protections for areas found to be low priority.

She disagreed,arguing her census was “not about going backwards,only forwards” and said the same protections for koalas which are listed under Commonwealth law would still apply.

Land clearing is the biggest threat to the survival of koalas in the wild,scientists say,but very few project applications are assessed despite the requirements under national laws.

Ananalysis of government development approval registers by the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) found between 2010 and 2018 43,113 hectares of known koala habitat was cleared,excluding logging operations.