The Minns government has confirmed its long-awaited great koala national park, announcing it will add 176,000 hectares of forest to existing reserves in mid-north New South Wales to create one of the largest national parks in the state and protect more than 12,000 koalas.

The premier, Chris Minns, and environment minister, Penny Sharpe, said the government would put an immediate moratorium on logging within the park’s boundaries and roll out a jobkeeper style support package for workers at affected timber mills in the region.

After months of pressure from community environment advocates frustrated at the time it was taking for the government to fulfil its election commitment while logging of the area continued, the NSW government accepted that all 176,000 hectares of state forest that were assessed for potential inclusion should be protected.

Forest advocates, who have spent more than a decade pushing successive state governments to establish a great koala national park, welcomed the “historic” announcement.

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“Finalisation of the Great Koala National Park will be a historic step forward in forest conservation, on par with Wran’s 1982 rainforest decision,” said the North East Forest Alliance spokesperson Dailan Pugh, referencing the Wran government’s decision to protect 120,000 hectares of forest in north-east NSW.

State forest will be added to existing reserves and parks inland of Coffs Harbour stretching south close to Kempsey and north towards Grafton to create a national park of 476,000 hectares.