'Get the trees back': NSW minister wanted 'clearance zone' around highways after bushfires

Andrew Constance confirms he ordered the now-sacked transport department head to remove trees 40 metres either side of highways but was refused

The New South Wales transport minister, Andrew Constance, demanded the now-sacked head of his department create an 80-metre clearance zone" around highways after the 2019-20 bushfires, an order Labor says could have resulted in countless trees being felled if followed.

During the state's budget estimates hearings on Thursday, Constance confirmed he had issued the directive to the former department head, Rodd Staples, following last summer's bushfire crisis.