 Koperberg was listed as a defendant in the Canberra bushfires legal proceedings in which the appellant claimed that he called the NSW Rural Fire Service Fire Control Centre 24 times over ten days, but was ignored.In hearings before the ACT Supreme Court, Koperberg admitted that at a meeting held in Queanbeyan he had understated the threat of the bushfires to Canberra's western suburbs.On 2 November 2006 Koperberg announced his intention to seek Labor Party preselection for the state seat of Blue Mountains in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly at the 2007 state election after Attorney-General and Environment Minister Bob Debus announced he would not recontest his safe Labor seat.