Robert Borsak

It has become blindingly clear that the original goal of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1967 to encourage visitors into the Parks had failed. Our National Parks were originally envisaged to be sustainably managed for multiple use activity such as conservation and recreation and to be accessible to all, including shooters, fishermen, equestrians, four-wheel drivers and others.

Unfortunately, our National Parks agenda has been hijacked by self-appointed saviours, such as the National Parks Association and others. These green groups ruthlessly pursue their own goals to the detriment of other users and to the Parks themselves. irregardless of the desperate need to properly control feral animals, wipe out lantana and other weeds and reduce the fuel load.

Given that bush fires that have decimated some of our most important national parks in recent years, bushfire risk management needs to change to protect biodiversity. High intensity fires destroy biodiversity over vast areas and for long periods. An integrated approach to active intervention in order to reduce fuel loads and other problems can be accomplished by means such as:

• prescribed hazard reduction burns (minimum 10% per annum),
• controlled grazing,
• thinning and sustainable timber harvesting methods.

In the future, National Parks should only be established following a thorough land assessment, as is required for all other Crown land allocations in NSW, according to the Crown Lands Act 1989 – after assessing the impact on neighbouring landholders.