Can the government manage, maintain additional national parks?

DEAR editor,

My backyard is the Lerderderg State Park and Wombat State Forest. I am a member of the admin team of the Bush User Groups United (BUGU) Facebook page.

Recently Steve Dimopoulos, the Minister for the Environment, tabled a bill in the Lower House called Parks and Public Land Legislation Amendment (Central West and other Matters) Bill 2025. This was tabled during the last sitting of Parliament in September.

I will first state this bill should only cover the Central West Investigation performed by the Victorian Environment Assessment Council (VEAC) initiated by Lily D’Ambrosio, the then Environment Minister, in 2017.

The inclusion of ‘other matters’ just confuses the overall bill and is surely a tactic by Labor to provide a cushion to the path of this bill and improve the likelihood of success.

By the time this letter is published it could be the case the bill has passed and again this State Government has ignored the will of the people and shut down democracy just to ensure back scratching with minor parties and the Greens is maintained in the Upper House of Parliament.

During the period of the Central West investigation there were two public consultations. Following the second consultation, a final report from VEAC was presented in June 2019. The final consultation resulted in close to 2700 public submissions, and after a completely unbiased appraisal it was found some 67 per cent were NOT in favour of creating more national parks and were against the recommendations by VEAC.

COVID-19, I suggest, stalled the progress of this through Parliament but now we see it complete with some window dressing that suggests nothing will change regarding use and access to the forests for recreational users. The suggestions are that many activities will be permitted including 4WD, trail bikes, walking dogs, camping, hunting, car rallies etc.

With any public vehicle access, this will be on gazetted roads or tracks only; most tracks will likely be under lock and key and only accessible by management; camping will be in designated camping areas with a fee; no dispersed camping allowed; no horse riding; no prospecting; no domestic wood collection eventually; and dog walking limited to certain areas but under a lead control. Hunting will be seasonal and all the suggested allowances will be at discretion of management (this discretion detail is in the fine print of the VEAC report).

Wombat State Forest, Lerderderg State Park, Wellsford, Mount Cole and Pyrenees Range forests do not have physical unique features like the Grampians Ranges, Kakadu or Kimberly areas, but yes, they are home to beautiful native flora and fauna, some that may be endangered.

Supporters of national parks should visit Victoria’s current national parks. Take a drive if you have the opportunity, you will be shocked and stunned – overgrown access tracks, feral weed infestation, fallen trees and limbs blocking access tracks, rubbish dumped by less caring people. This Government cannot afford to maintain the current catalogue of national parks; why create more? The recent Grampians fires, the 2019–20 summer fires down the eastern seaboard of Australia through to Mallacoota in Victoria was mainly in national parks. Just think of the loss of native fauna that suffered horribly in those infernos.

The current Wombat State Forest, being relatively close to Melbourne, provides easy access for short weekend breaks from the mundane working life, adventures for a family, and free access to explore. Enjoy some amateur prospecting, gold detecting or panning, camping in solitude rather than in formed designated camping grounds. Mental health groups recognise the benefits of escapes to nature.

I have camped in the Wombat State Forest with family and mates for over 50 years so I know much about its recent history. The true current stewards of this beautiful forest are the bush recreational users. They keep tracks clear of fallen trees, limbs and new growth (so assisting access for emergency vehicles when required), have working bees to remove illegal rubbish dumped, provide continual income for local business in communities within the forest area, and I assure you the majority of recreational bush users love and respect the flora and fauna when they visit this area.

Those who believe these existing state forests and parks – that are havens for native fauna and flora – will benefit from a change to national park status – need to consider a few things. Many are just of the mindset that it must be a good thing to lock up access and let nature do its thing. Consider the following:

Can this Government afford to manage and maintain additional national parks at this time when environmental budgets and resources are being cut?

Who will assist by default in keeping tracks open for emergency vehicles?

Do you believe small communities within the forests will witness increased visitation and income from what is called eco-tourism?

Who will be responsible with clearing the continual domestic and commercial rubbish dumping?

Stephen Smitham

Darley