By reading the press release from the Minister for the Environment, it seems that he believes we should all bow down and be thankful that his government has found $300,000 for the organizations that receive his imprimatur for their so called voluntary association with National Parks. Talk about buying support!!  Pardon us for being cynical! 

Then, his leader has announced at the cost of millions the purchase by the Government of a number of new National Parks. The pity is that the Government’s priorities are all wrong.  They need to do something about appropriating proper funds to the existing parks before they go off beating their collective chests about how brilliant they are for acquiring new ones.

Friends of Fraser Island can list many items that need urgent attention in just the Fraser Island National Park that would spend the $300,000 over many times.  Apart from the abysmal lack of attention to road and track management, there is the massive weed infestation cause by a lack of concern by past managers of the park, the urgent need for the provision for a couple of well maintained group camping venues for the large backpacker clientele attracted to Fraser Island by the Government, the urgent need to clean up the ground litter around habitations before a wild fire wipes all buildings out; the list can go on and on and that is for Fraser Island only.

Clearly the Beattie Government has a priority for the spending of huge sums of money in the Brisbane area but when it comes to providing for the National Parks, cents rather than dollars are appropriated.  If, as has been suggested this latest move is to gain the ‘green’ vote at the forthcoming State election they should miss out badly. Anybody genuinely interested in the environment and in National Parks in particular will want to see that the parks are being managed honestly and effectively. What successive governments must realise is that huge sums of money must be appropriated to National Parks if those parks are to fulfill their dual purposes of conservation and providing a good recreational venue for the populace.

If the Beattie Government sees as its priority to spend $280,000,000 on one Brisbane venue and little on venues in other parts of the State, they should be honest and open with the electorate, especially the regional parts of the State.  From past actions we can only deduce that the Labor Government has an unstated policy that for National Parks maintenance funds must be raised by those who use them.  Even this policy if it was openly stated may not seem so bad if those who use the parks had a say in how the funds were being used.