Conservation groups accuse the Palaszczuk Government of not delivering on an election promise to protect 17 per cent of the state's wilderness areas by failing to establish a strategy to create more national parks across the state.
Conservation groups have accused the Palaszczuk Government of not delivering on an election promise to protect 17 per cent of the state's wilderness areas by failing to establish a strategy to create more national parks across the state.Only 8.2 per cent of the state's wilderness has been protected, rather than 17 per cent as promised
Sophia Walter, manager of Queensland's not-for-profit organisation, the Pew Charitable Trust, said with an October state election fast approaching, the Government needs to provide "ambitious funding". Figures from the Western Rivers Alliance, which is a consortium of Traditional Owners, graziers, local governments and environmental groups, show the Palaszczuk Government has fallen well short of its election target.
Andrew Picone from the Queensland Conservation Council said he was "really counting" on the Government to deliver a fully-funded strategy in the coming weeks. "The Newman government did protect, on an annual average basis, more land — more of Queensland," Mr Picone said. "These are great achievements, but we need to see the Protected Areas Strategy funded and released before the election — not as a commitment, but as something they've delivered and funded."
"$2.6 billion in visitor spending is generated each year by national parks — that's in a pre-COVID context," Mr Picone said, citing a research paper prepared for the Queensland Government.
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