Sport Minister Mick de Brenni has broken his silence to defend the Queensland government’s approach to threatened koala bushland near a south-east Brisbane shooting range.

Two hectares of koala habitat have already been cleared to allow further expansion of the Belmont Shooting Complex and a further 5.4 hectares are now earmarked for further clearing.

Sport Minister Mick de Brenni with Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk Credit:Tony Moore

But on Sunday Mr de Brenni said studies under way suggested further land might not need to be cleared.

“I think it is very possible we may not need to clear much more land at all,” he said.