Did you know our national parks don’t have adequate national protection? GET_UP

Dear NEVILLE,

Did you know our national parks don’t have adequate national protection?

Recently, State Premiers have moved to allow logging, mining, cattle grazing and amateur shooters in our parks, and things are only getting worse.

If you saw Four Corners on Monday, you’ll know the Shooters and Fishers Party, who have the balance of power in the NSW Senate, are trying to water down gun laws and expand shooting in national parks.

Federal Ministers have tried to step in, but often lack the legal authority to do so. That could change, but we have to act quickly. There are eight more sitting days in Parliament before the pre-election break. Realistically, the Government has to act immediately to introduce federal protection for our national parks.

Sign the petition and we’ll call on Environment Minister Tony Burke to introduce legislation before Parliament breaks.

http://www.getup.org.au/protect-our-parks

Smart Federal protections would give our parks an extra line of defence. It would stop irresponsible State Premiers putting short-term profits ahead of the preservation of our parks.

Without Federal protection, here are some of the dangers our national parks face:

Recently, in Victoria:

• the Victorian Government made changes to effectively sell off its national parks; a proposal that will see chunks of national park land offered in 99 year leases. [1]

In Queensland:

• Campbell Newman opened 440,000 hectares of parks and reserves for cattle grazing – a practice proven to pollute waterways, trample delicate wetlands, cause soil erosion and spread weeds. [2]

• Deputy Premier Jeff Seeney called for industry to fight green groups that are lobbying against new coal ports and dredging channels in our Great Barrier Reef. [3]

In New South Wales:

• the Upper House parliamentary committee proposed logging be allowed in national parks [4]

• Barry O’Farrell intends to move forward with his deal with the Shooters and Fishers Party that will allow hunting in NSW parks despite a review saying it will pose a significant risk to human life [5]
• NSW rolled back protection laws allowing fishing to occur in marine parks. [6]

In South Australia:

• Premier Jay Weatherill let shooters loose in national parks, leading to a young man being wounded by stray gunfire. [7]

All of this shows us that state governments alone cannot be trusted with our world renowned and cherished natural areas.

Let’s do something meaningful to ensure our parks are still around for our children to enjoy.

Sign the petition calling for Federal protection of our national parks.

http://www.getup.org.au/protect-our-parks

Thanks,
the GetUp team

[1] Private leases plan for national parks, The Age, May 30, 2013
[2] Tony Burke unable to stop cattle in national parks, The Age, May 22, 2013
[3] Fight against green groups: Seeney, Brisbane Times, May 29, 2013
[4] Logging looms in national parks, Sydney Morning Herald, May 13, 2013
[5] Premier O’Farrell to allow hunting in NSW national parks, ABC. net.au, 31 May, 2012
[6] Recreational fishing allowed in NSW marine parks, ABC. net.au, March 12, 2013
[7] Shooting accident reignites call for hunting ban, ABC. net.au, May 19, 2013

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