A PETITION to the Queensland Government aimed at preventing National Parks going into the hands of exclusive private commercial operators has already gained more than 3,000 signatures.
The petition was launched on May 23, 2024, by a coalition of statewide community groups and is supported locally by Save Our Foreshore Inc, a well known community group that has been keeping the Whitsunday regions’ public lands in the public’s hands since 2003.
Save Our Foreshore president Suzette Pelt said a push by the State Government to close off iconic places in the National Park estate for exclusive use was ‘another public land grab’.
If the proposals were to go ahead, the new publicly funded two-night Whitsunday Island Ngaro Track would be handed to a single, exclusive private operator to run for their paying clients only.
“As proposed, any local wanting to enjoy their own backyard can’t do it without paying a private exclusive operator. And it won’t be cheap, so a lot of people will be excluded,” SOF president Suzette Pelt said.
“What’s happening around Queensland is that our National Parks are under threat from private exclusive commercial profiteering. We have a government behaving like a third world developing country, effectively ‘selling off’ special public places that should be accessible to everyone.”
Ms Pelt said National Parks were for everyone.
“National Parks are part of our public estate, for conservation purposes as the principal reason for their existence.
“Developments by private operators are supported outside National Parks, who then access the parks just like everyone else. They can be guided tour groups or individual walkers.
“And while numbers necessarily need to be managed on these walks for conservation reasons, the walks are open to everyone, not just an exclusive few who can afford it.
“But there’s a push from the State Government to close off iconic places – from Hinchinbrook to the Whitsundays and elsewhere in our National Park estate – for a single operators’ exclusive use.
“It’s hard to see how this can be supported by tourism operators generally, who will be excluded.
“Maybe they, like everyone else, thought the Whitsunday Island walk would be accessible to all. Unfortunately, that isn’t the case, the walk went out for private commercial tender, a process that will not be open to any scrutiny.
“Imagine if any single charter boat operator was able to get exclusive use to a particular bay, to the exclusion of everyone else? That’s exactly what this is about, except on land.
“Our National Parks do not need to be sold off this way.”
People can sign the petition here:
https://www.parliament.qld.gov.au/Work-of-the-Assembly/Petitions/Petition-Details?id=4090
For more information about Save Our Foreshore Inc visit www.saveourforeshore.com.au.
