We had Barack with a koala, Vladimir with his koala, Tony with his koala and Angela with her own koala.  Even India’s prime minister Narendra Modi was snapped with one.

South-east Queensland’s koala-led recovery

In 2016, that led to Brisbane’s lord mayor Graham Quirk talking about a koala-led tourism recovery as mining began to slump.

“To say that Brisbane is the koala capital of Australia is not an overstatement and ecotourism is going to become increasingly important in our city," Cr Quirk said that day.

"It's not a case of taking advantage of the koala, it's just simply saying we have this wonderful, treasured iconic little animal and we ought to not lose that opportunity."

But declining koala numbers in south-east Queensland show the species – outside of zoos – is in crisis.

Why not look at Koala Beach estate near Pottsville?

In 2018, Queensland government planners are not taking note of a small residential community called Koala Beach just over the border in the northern New South Wales town of Pottsville, experts say.

Here koala numbers are now stabilising and slowly increasing while on the rest of the Tweed Coast they are declining.

Tweed Shire biodiversity expert Scott Hetherington is disappointed Queensland’s koala planners seem to be trying to reinvent the wheel.

“They are both talking about starting afresh and we have been jumping up and down saying, ‘hey this is working, this is what we are doing'," he said.

Mr Hetherington said Tweed Shire Council would love to talk to Queensland koala planners.

“That is definitely what they should be doing and seeing what we are doing and improving on that, rather than starting afresh.”

Five ugly facts of the Queensland koala

Is there any good news for the koala in south-east Queensland?

In May 2017 three koala experts released – almost 12 months after it was promised – a report promising “a new direction” for the conservation of koalas in Queensland.

In its summary, it said that to protect koalas the state needs to preserve their habitat, prevent dogs and cats from killing them, design roadways to avoid cars from hitting them and punish developers from clear-felling habitat inside Queensland’s urban footprint.

And just over the New South Wales border near Pottsville, between Tweed Heads and Brunswick Heads there appears to a viable model.

It is called Koala Beach Estate between Pottsville and Hastings Point.

Is Koala Beach a model community for koala and homes in south-east Queensland?

There are now about 550 homes in a small “purpose-built” koala community near Pottsville, which was started in 1994 by Gold Coast developer Brian Ray and the Australian Koala Foundation.

The homes were built on 270 hectares of bushland, which has swelled after 100 hectares were added by the New South Wales government in 2017 and in 2018 extra land was added for a chlamydia vet centre.

A 2011 Australian Senate inquiry heard the Property Council of Australia viewed it as a model development for koalas and humans to live together.

Today it is overseen by Tweed Shire Council and managed by Mr Hetherington.

What impact has it had on land values?

According to the Office of the New South Wales Valuer-General, from July 1, 2014, to July 1, 2016, the Koala Beach Estate increased in land value by 31 per cent compared to the overall Pottsville increase of 23 per cent. Between July 1, 2016, to July 1, 2017, Koala Beach land values increased by 14.6 per cent compared to an overall increase in Pottsville of 16 per cent.

Why is Koala Beach Estate different?

Koala Beach Estate is a smaller patch of bushland around Pottsville within the larger Tweed Coast koala zone, which stretches all the way from the Tweed River south to the Brunswick River.

The larger Tweed Coast koala population was about 150 in 2011, but that number is declining.

However, in Koala Beach the number of koalas is stabilising and koalas are found in areas of bushland that have been planted over the past two to three years.

“Our repeated studies in 2011 and 2015 and (about to be repeated in 2018) have shown that, despite the broader decline in koala numbers (in the Tweed Valley) there is a consistent level of koala activity in Koala Beach,” Mr Hetherington said.

“I mean there are dozens, probably two dozen, 20 or 25 sightings of koalas around Koala Beach since June last year,” he said.

“Plus, we know they are now using new areas that we have planted.”

“And we have also been able to reduce the impact of cars on koalas in the areas and we are able to measure a positive outcome there.”

Is Koala Beach working overall as a model for living in koala habitat?

“What we are seeing here at Koala Beach and in some parts of the Tweed Coast, we appear to be slowing that decline in koalas,” Scott Hetherington.

“It doesn’t mean they are going to recover to the full amount, but it’s a great first step,” he said.

“If you want to turn something around, well you have to slow it down first and point it in the opposite direction.”

He is positive that despite some flaws, Koala Beach is now remarkably good model for residential estates in koala habitat.

“I think as far as strategies go, what Koala Beach demonstrates is that you have to be serious about reducing threats,” he said.

“However, if you are not prepared to seriously look at the threats of dogs, cats and habitat retention and keeping the best stuff,” he said.

“If not, then it is a waste of time.”

Mr Hetherington said hard decisions have to be made along the way.

He said that has been done in Tweed Coast.

“There are prime lots up on the ridges that would have been prime lots with ocean views all the way down to Byron that were retained, actually not for koalas, but for another threatened species, the blossom bat,” he said.

“So they are the hard decisions I believe that have to be made to be able to genuinely make a difference.”