Ms McKay wants the Premier, Gladys Berejiklian, to commit to a public inquiry which would travel to the fire-affected areas to hear directly from communities.

"The community when I talk to them, from volunteers through to residents who have lost their houses or their businesses or have been impacted, want the opportunity to put their story forward," she said.

Ms McKay said the inquiry should examine preparedness, resources, responses and decisions.

"This is not about culpability or finger-pointing, it's just about saying how can we do it better next time," Ms McKay said.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian, told Sky News, not withstanding whatever decision was taken at a national level, she thought it was important for each state to undertake their own review.

The response to the fires remains a topical issue.

Ms McKay joined opposition environment spokesperson Kate Washington to visit Port Macquarie Koala Hospital and FAWNA representatives on Wednesday (January 15).

Ms McKay also spoke about a need for habitat and wildlife mapping to guide regional approaches, in addition to a broader recovery strategy.

"We know in the Port Macquarie, Mid-North Coast area there is a massive problem with koalas already, so therefore you should have regional mapping, and that should be the responsibility of the state government," Ms McKay said.

Ms Washington said the mapping needed to include an assessment of the habitat loss and koala population loss.

"The koala populations and all the other species were already suffering from drought, they were already suffering from land clearing," she said.

"Drought has had and is having an enormous impact on wildlife and habitat as well.

"The bushfires have caused enormous harm to the population that was already significantly at risk.

"What we want to see after an assessment and audit is a plan to recovery."

Ms McKay said regional local-focused approaches could be looked at from the mapping.

"Port Macquarie is far ahead of most areas because you actually have the koala hospital and a really good network of carers here," she said.

A NSW government spokesperson said wildlife habitat in many national parks was still under threat.

"Our immediate priority is the suppression and control of existing fires to protect life, property and remaining habitat in our national parks," the spokesperson said.

"Work is underway to determine the extent of habitat loss for key threatened species and to identify the critical remaining refugial areas."

The spokesperson said mapping the extent of the damage was also underway, and alongside ongoing efforts to fight the fires, an emergency recovery plan to protect and restore wildlife populations was being designed and implemented.

Ms Washington praised the work of wildlife carers and volunteers across the state.

"What we need is a coordinated response to harness the volunteers and wildlife carers but it needs to be coordinated and at a regional level," she said.

What else is making news, sport?

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