“The plight of the koala now falls on his shoulders.”

The Australia Koala Foundation wants similar legislation to the United States’ Bald Eagle Endangered Species Act which has protected its fauna emblem, the bald eagle, since 1973.

In the US, the bald eagle – which was reduced to 417 breeding pairs – has now recovered and been removed from their threatened species list.

“The Koala Protection Act is based on the Bald Eagle Act which works with both the federal Endangered Species Act and the Environmental Protection Authority in the USA,” Ms Tabart said.

“The bald eagle act was successful because there was political motive to ensure their icon did not go extinct.

“It is time for the koala to be afforded the same respect.”

In Australia, the koala is classed as vulnerable federally but koala habitat is easily cleared and koala numbers on the east coast are in steep decline.

Ms Tabart has asked the future prime minister to implement the proposed Koala Protection Act legislation where developers must be able to prove their applications will not destroy specific koala food trees.

“It was written by barristers and legal teams all over the country and it will change environmental law forever,” Ms Tabart said.

“They said this will work because it is based on the protection of individual tree species,” she said.

“It doesn’t rely on mapping and it doesn’t rely on ‘I saw a koala there’ sightings.

“The onus of proof is on the proponent, the developer.

“If those tree species are on land used by a particular development, then the answer to the proposal is 'no', unless they can prove their development is benign to that landscape.”

Ms Tabart said the Australian Koala Foundation now has a list of koala food tree locations from 300 councils.

She said it would not halt development but would force planners to think in different ways.

“With a road, for instance, it would say these are the trees that will trigger the act.

"We ask them, ‘Show us how you plan to minimise the impacts to that koala population'," she said.

World Wildlife Fund-Australia chief executive Dermot O'Gorman agreed new federal laws were needed to protect the koala.

"WWF-Australia respects the work of the Australian Koala Foundation," Mr O'Gorman said.

"We agree that strong new federal laws are essential to save koalas."

Two months ago, WWF-Australia and other conservation groups released Australia’s first independent plan to save the koala from extinction in Queensland and NSW, he said.

"This includes enacting strong new federal laws and an independent environment protection body, ending excessive tree clearing, fully funding and implementing recovery plans, protecting critical habitat for at risk species – including koalas – and tackling climate change," he said.

"These reforms are essential if we are to save koalas, as well as over 1900 other threatened species and ecological communities at risk of extinction."

Ms Tabart also flagged tighter controls on private environmental consultancies providing koala information to developers to support development applications in koala habitat.

The Queensland government is now reviewing legislation after it was revealed developers were paying to buy alternative scrubland to clear koala habitat.

In March 2019, WWF-Australia labelled the outcome of the well-intended policy as a “licence to clear bushland".

Brisbane Times asked for comment from the federal Liberal and Labor campaign teams about a proposed Koala Protection Act, but received no reply from either party.

The ALP has promised to rewrite Australia's federal environment laws and set up a new Environmental Protection Authority if it wins office.

The government last week released a $200 million package that focused on recycling and removing plastics, but included some funding for zoos that protect south-east Queensland koalas.