Australian Politics

A controversial plan to allow big industry to use a new koala national park in New South Wales to offset its climate pollution is expected to go ahead after the Greens reached a deal with Labor, and decided not to vote with the Coalition to block it.

But three Greens – Tasmanians Nick McKim, Vanessa Bleyer and Western Australia’s Jordon Steele-John – declared they would cross the floor to oppose the deal on Thursday afternoon.

The minor party and environment advocates have been divided over whether to support a regulation proposed by the NSW government, and introduced by the Albanese government, that lets states earn carbon credits for protecting native forests that had been earmarked for logging.

The Nationals want to kill the regulation, known as a carbon credit method, on the grounds it would hurt the forestry industry. They have introduced a disallowance motion in the Senate.

The Greens have the casting votes. For weeks, they have been split over which way to go. They want the park – a promised 476,000 hectare reserve, including 176,000 ha of newly protected areas - but have been divided over whether it should be allowed to happen this way.

Greens leader Larissa Waters said her party had improved what is known as the improved native forestry management method, but would oppose other upcoming carbon credit legislation that would produce a larger number of credits.