Qld National Parks - The New Government's Perspective

[stathill]

In Parliament on 31 May 2012, the new Minister for National Parks made a ministerial statement that appears to bode well for future access to National parks....

Queensland Government Estate

Hon. SL DICKSON

(Buderim—LNP) (Minister for National Parks, Recreation, Sport and Racing)

(9.56 am): Queensland is the lucky state. We have a diverse range of natural beauty, valuable
resources and viable land at our back doorstep, but many Queenslanders have either barely glimpsed
their own backyard or, worse, never seen it at all.
The message from the previous government to Queenslanders, tourists and businesses has
been that it is all locked away—you are not allowed to go there. Under this government the message is
loud and clear: our state is magnificent, we want you to see it, we want it to be used for the benefit of all
Queenslanders. A sizeable portion of our state comprises Queensland government estate and it
belongs to all Queenslanders. There are over 12 million hectares of terrestrial estate and 72,000 square
kilometres of marine park waiting to be realised.
Access to public land can mean many different things to an array of different people and groups.
Moving forward in this government we will work with those at the coalface to define access to
Queensland government estate. We will deliver it in a manner consistent with the promises made by this
government to grow our four-pillar economy. To support the definition, as the government we will
honestly assess the definition and the attributes of the current tenure classifications espoused by the
Nature Conservation Act and the manner in which they are utilised. We need to ensure that land that is
part of the government estate is classified appropriately so that we are not locking away useable land
just because the default option is the easiest one.
We need to ensure that we are managing land in a way that interacts positively with modern
realities. There is no doubt that there are many areas of Queensland that have high conservation
values, and some of them are already recognised as great icons in this state. We will continue to respect
and preserve the spaces to conserve our state’s natural beauty for future generations. We will do this by
ensuring the higher protection tenure classifications afforded under the Nature Conservation Act and
World Heritage protection are used appropriately.
Public land is for public use. Queenslanders are entitled to use the land and they are entitled to
derive a benefit from it. As a government, we need to ensure that we can be flexible with public land. We
need to strike a balance of the objectives of different stakeholders and give paramount consideration to
the benefits to be reaped for all Queenslanders.
Inaction, mismanagement and exclusionary attitudes taken by the previous government towards
government estates allowed its potential to wither away. We will not sit idly while our state suffers as a
result. We will take action. The possibilities and potential of our public land at this time are a wealth yet

to be realised, but they will be realised under this Newman government.

[slugga123]

Cool!!

[GSnovice]

All well and good, but it seems the Transport Minister is 'concerned by the over representation of motorcycles in crash statistics' and will call for the usual public consultations before he does what he's already decided to do about it. Same shit, different label....................

[JBtourer]

I wouldn't get too excited by this. It smacks of a plan to regulate access and make money.

It will probably lead to things such as centralised booking and having to book in advance to camp anywhere in a national park.

JBtourer

[GSnovice]

Originally Posted by JBtourer

I wouldn't get too excited by this. It smacks of a plan to regulate access and make money.

It will probably lead to things such as centralised booking and having to book in advance to camp anywhere in a national park.

JBtourer

Advance booking to camp in NP's is already the case in sunny Qld.

[Hardhead]

Maybe bring in the NSW model and charge to access NP or bring back permits for bikes but charge for them this time.

Hope not.

Originally Posted by JBtourer

I wouldn't get too excited by this. It smacks of a plan to regulate access and make money.

It will probably lead to things such as centralised booking and having to book in advance to camp anywhere in a national park.

JBtourer

[tHEtREV]

And remember that the idea of a National Park is to preserve that section of land.

It's a bit hard to see how letting 4x4s and bikes lose on them is going to achieve that.

Unless its a mining company being let lose on 4x4 and bikes.

I honestly can't see them doing anything to them unless its going to make them money.

Although they might down size the number of rangers so that they can't police what goes on in the parks, efectivly opening them up.

[Bigem]

Didn't this lot promise to keep rego's pegged, at the same time they approved a CTP hike!!

Different dickheads, same shit sandwich!!

[DR Ozzy]

In a perfect world you would rock up to the park and Anna Bligh would be there cleaning out the toilets.

[Phil_Fong]

Originally Posted by DR Ozzy

In a perfect world you would rock up to the park and Anna Bligh would be there cleaning out the toilets.

[Bobin Mike]

We need to ensure that land that is part of the government estate is classified appropriately so that we are not locking away useable land just because the default option is the easiest one.
We need to ensure that we are managing land in a way that interacts positively with modern
realities.

Looks like they are simply getting ready to change classifications of conservation areas so that it will be easier to allow miners to access them.

[tHEtREV]

That makes sense...

[outback jack]

Better get my miners licence for Cathu state forest then.

[Nitram]

Beware the doublespeak..............For decades Queensland National Parks have had a degree of commercialism that grates severely with visitors from any other state. And I'm not talking about entry fees and camping fees. I'm talking about commercial enterprises taking place within National Parks in Qld. e.g. Google accomodation in Daintree and you'll find a shitload of "Eco Lodges" located within the Park Boundaries. And other commercial acivities too. In NSW, with the exception of the Ski Villages and associated stuff in Kosiusko N.P., National Parks are generally about conservation, not commercialism.

True it is that there are lots of locked gates in NSW National Parks. Lots less in Victoria which I think gets the balance right. But the advertising and hype of Qld National Parks leaves me cold. When I go into a National Park, I want to see something different from what I saw in the town I just went through on the way there. In Qld., you can hardly tell the difference, and the new government sounds like it's going to shaping up to make money out of National Parks.

If the Blight Govt. tried to turn that back a bit then good on them.

That's what I reckon anyway.

Nitram

[Cruz]

Looks like they are cutting NPWS budget pretty heavily too, always seems to be be of the first hit hard when money is tight.