NSW's second-largest national park created to protect koalas

Key points

• The New South Wales government has established the state's second-largest national park, the Great Koala National Park, after more than 14 hours of debate in the Legislative Council. The park will cover 478,000 hectares between Kempsey and Grafton on the Mid North Coast.
• Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said it would protect more than 100 species of flora and fauna. Conservationist Ashley Love said he would keep pushing for more surrounding forest to be protected.
• Logging has been halted in the area, and the federal Clean Energy Regulator has registered the project for carbon credits.