Less than a third of the inquiry's 42 recommendations were supported in the Government's response, which was tabled this week, while 17 were were supported in principle and the remainder were noted.

Port Macquarie Koala Hospital clinical director Cheyne Flanagan (Pictured above) said she was bitterly disappointed but not surprised.

"To me it's just a lot of smoke and mirrors and not much grunt behind it," she said.

"There's just a lot of supporting in principle or duly noted, which is basically saying nothing's going to be done and some of the things they said that they're actually doing are very loose.

"I don't have confidence in it at all."

'Nowhere to put them'

Environment Minister Matt Kean said in a statement that he had asked the Chief Scientist and Engineer, Hugh Durrant-Whyte, to assemble an expert panel to advise on how to double the state's koala population.

"Koalas are one of our most iconic animals and we must do everything we can to ensure they not only survive but thrive into the future," he said.

"This advice will be used to develop a new NSW Koala Strategy, due for release in the coming months."

Ms Flanagan said koala habitat needed to be doubled.

"What's the point of trying to breed these animals up if there's literally nowhere to put them?" she said.

"They're already suffering from disease, hit by cars, attacked by dogs, etc — all of that is driven by the removal of habitat.

"Breeding animals, upping the population, we need more land, protected land."

'No change'

Ms Flanagan said she held little hope that koalas would survive in the wilds of NSW beyond 2050.

"Bear in mind all the other species that live in association with koalas will also slide into extinction — it's not just koalas," she said.

"This is critically important, these animals are such an iconic part of this country.

"Six billion annually in tourism dollars – well, pre-COVID anyway – was what our wildlife brings to this country, and particularly koalas.

"What are we going to do? Have koalas in zoos, that's it.

"We need to tighten the legislation to protect all these native fauna that are so precious to this country … this report just smacks of no change."

Story By | Luisa Rubbo