Stop the Commercialization of, AND shooting being allowed in National Parks

Taskforce on Tourism and National Parks promotes development

After months of waiting, and numerous submissions from our members, the Taskforce on Tourism and National Parks released its final report on 3 December and .....

NATIONAL PARKS ARE IN TROUBLE !!!

The NSW Government plans to change National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 to weaken national park protection by:

broadening the purpose of national parks to include "sustainable tourism"

changing leasing arrangements to allow new "eco-resorts", cabins and semi-permanent "camps"

changing wilderness laws to allow commercial tours

under pressure from the Shooters Party to allow shooting in National Parks

The Government will also assist private developers to build accommodation, resorts and other tourist facilities in parks with planning brakes removed. Sites will be selected, preliminary planning done, and offered to the tourism industry as "investor-ready".

Clearly, the assurance that we received from the Executive Director of Parks Management in August of "no new developments" was not what the Taskforce had in mind.

Changes are NOT needed

Minutes of the Taskforce reveal that National Park tourism is growing rapidly, outperforming the industry as a whole, and set to easily deliver the 20% growth target on current trends! Pre-existing facilities (lighthouses, historical buildings) can already be used for accommodation under existing legislation.

The taskforce offers NO support to improve the existing facilities in parks which is what is needed (campgrounds, tracks, staffing, signage - NOT to mention conservation work such as weed management!). It assumes that "public private partnerships" will help fund park management, but provides no financial evidence to support this assumption. Evidence elsewhere indicates that such developments drain resources from Park management.

Bad for our local tourism industry

The taskforce report claims that development is needed for the "comfort in nature" tourist. We believe these tourists are well served by the variety of guest houses, boutique hotels, resorts, cafes and other facilities our Blue Mountain villages. They don't need to compete with private restaurants and eco resorts in the Parks. But the Blue Mountains is specifically targeted in the Taskforce report.

Shooting to be allowed in National Parks

The Premier, Nathan Rees, has offered the Shooters Party the right to help with culls in national parks under the supervision of environment department officials in the first stage of his efforts to woo back the two Shooters MPs (Mr Brown and Mr Smith) - and regain control of the upper house.

The Premier and his staff are concerned the Opposition and crossbenchers might not only oppose a sale of NSW Lotteries but force it to a parliamentary committee, which could delay the $500 million sale by up to a year.

Mr Brown and Mr Smith are adamant that shooting be allowed in National Parks and plan to oppose the sale of NSW Lotteries in order to achieve this goal.

The Premier and his staff are more concerned about the sale of NSW Lotteries than the safety of visitors and protection of wildlife in the National Parks.

PUBLIC MEETING: Saturday 15 August

9:45am for a 10am start (finish by 11:30am)
Santa Maria Centre, 253 Great Western Highway, Lawson

National parks are currently under significant pressure.
Legislation could be passed in September to allow increased commercialisation and development of on-park accommodation, in competition with local businesses, and recreational hunting in national parks.
National parks in the Blue Mountains region are winding back conservation work due to a lack of funding.
Please join us to learn more about these proposals and send a clear message that National parks are for NATURE conservation.

Speakers: Andrew Cox (National Parks Association) plus local representatives of conservation and animal welfare groups.

Invitees include: Mr Koperberg MP, BMCC Councillors, Mr Richardson MP

How you can HELP

1. E Lobby NOW Ms Carmel Tebbutt, Minister for the Environment

2. CONTACT politicians to say:

the NPW Act should not be changed

new development is NOT needed in National Parks (beyond that already permissible such as toilets ...)

Wilderness areas do not need to be commercialised

The integrity and protection of our parks is more important now than ever before

Shooting must NOT be allowed in National Parks

Mr Phil Koperberg, Shop 3, 107-109 Macquarie Road, SPRINGWOOD NSW 2777 Ph 4751 3298
bluemountains@parliament.nsw.gov.au

Ms Karyn Paluzzano,

Mr Nathan Rees, GPO Box 5341, SYDNEY NSW 2001 Ph 9228 5239
http://thepremier@www.nsw.gov.au

For more information http://www.npansw.org.au/web/conservation/tourism/tourism.htm