❓ The Minister for Environment provides an update on the $40 million improvement works at Fitzgerald River National Park, highlighting new infrastructure, environmental controls, and increased accessibility for tourism and conservation awareness.
AnsweredQoN 377Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FITZGERALD RIVER NATIONAL PARK
377. Dr G.G. JACOBS to the Minister for
Environment:
I thank the minister for his visit
to my electorate on the weekend. Can he please update the house on the
improvement works undertaken in the Fitzgerald River National Park, which was
officially opened by the Premier on the weekend?
377. Dr G.G. JACOBS to the Minister for
Environment:
I thank the minister for his visit
to my electorate on the weekend. Can he please update the house on the
improvement works undertaken in the Fitzgerald River National Park, which was
officially opened by the Premier on the weekend?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Eyre for the
question and for hosting us in his electorate over the weekend. This investment
in the Fitzgerald River National Park park improvement program is truly one of
the most significant, if not the most significant, infrastructure spends and
investments that has ever been done in a national park in this state. I was
very fortunate to come in as the new Minister for Environment at the tail end
of this project and to be part of the official opening on the weekend. However,
full credit for this project needs to go in the first instance to the Premier,
who stumped up $20 million for this project in 2009 and saw the potential in
the Fitzgerald River National Park, and also to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,
who put up the other $20 million for this project, giving us a total of $40 million
to spend on the Fitzgerald River National Park. This is a $40 million
infrastructure project that frames one of this state's true natural
wonders. We now have in this park 80 kilometres of roads; 40 kilometres of
sealed road, which is very significant and I will come back to that in moment;
and a further 40 kilometres of gravel road. There are lookouts throughout the
park, and some of the most remarkable coastline that had previously been
inaccessible to most people in this state. We have two new walk trails—one
46 kilometres and one 31 kilometres long—along that coastline. There
are new or refurbished campgrounds at Cave Point and Hamersley Inlet, as well
as new toilets, new barbecues and a whole host of facilities. Quite simply, the
level of creative design that has gone into that project from the Department of
Parks and Wildlife landscape team and the quality of work from Main Roads
contractors, parks and wildlife contractors, and the 70 local businesses in
Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe that have worked on this project is to a standard
that I have not seen anywhere else in this state, and they are to be
congratulated for their level of work and commitment to this project. This project
is a precursor of what is to come from this state government; it is a perfect
example of what we will do with our Parks for People program as we invest in
more national parks, particularly across our south west and midwest, and in our
caravanning and camping strategy to provide this level of experience.
We did this for three key reasons.
One is to provide access for all people to get into this park, including
all-weather access. Previously, people were at the mercy of the elements to
even get into Fitzgerald River National Park, and it was very hard for
businesses in Hopetoun to build the tourism industry if those tourists do not
even know whether they could get to the natural wonders in the Fitzgerald River
National Park, which has now been provided with those 40 kilometres of sealed
roads. Also, those sealed roads are very important for dieback control for that
national park. Fitzgerald River National Park is one of the last largely
untouched areas in this state in terms of the spread of dieback. Now with those
sealed roads, better drainage catchments and boot cleaning stations at all of
those walk trails we have a far better management than we had before of that
pathogen, which has run rampant through our forests in many other areas of this
state. That is a far better level of environmental control as we encourage
visitors into that park. A big part of the reason that we want to make it
easier to get into parks so people interact with them in the right way is to
increase awareness and appreciation of what our natural gems have to offer.
This is one of the state's eight biodiversity hotspots—just
that single national park. By and large the large proportion of young people in
the state live in the metropolitan area and we need opportunities for them to get
out to regional areas and national parks such as the Fitzgerald River National
Park so they can grow up with an appreciation of conservation and why it is
important in this state.
In closing, the other reason we have
made this investment right at the outset was for the benefit of those two
communities of Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe. Following that decision of BHP
Billiton in 2009 to pull out of the nickel mine, a level of pessimism pervaded
those communities and tourism industries were struggling to get off the ground,
so this investment was made. We are already seeing a marked improvement in that
area with a 25 per cent increase in visitation to Fitzgerald River National
Park in the last 12 months alone, and I still do not think the majority of the
state has even realised that it is there. We have already seen new holiday
accommodation being approved in town and I have to say that having been down
there this past weekend, a sense of optimism pervades the towns that I do not
think was there back in 2009.
question and for hosting us in his electorate over the weekend. This investment
in the Fitzgerald River National Park park improvement program is truly one of
the most significant, if not the most significant, infrastructure spends and
investments that has ever been done in a national park in this state. I was
very fortunate to come in as the new Minister for Environment at the tail end
of this project and to be part of the official opening on the weekend. However,
full credit for this project needs to go in the first instance to the Premier,
who stumped up $20 million for this project in 2009 and saw the potential in
the Fitzgerald River National Park, and also to former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd,
who put up the other $20 million for this project, giving us a total of $40 million
to spend on the Fitzgerald River National Park. This is a $40 million
infrastructure project that frames one of this state's true natural
wonders. We now have in this park 80 kilometres of roads; 40 kilometres of
sealed road, which is very significant and I will come back to that in moment;
and a further 40 kilometres of gravel road. There are lookouts throughout the
park, and some of the most remarkable coastline that had previously been
inaccessible to most people in this state. We have two new walk trails—one
46 kilometres and one 31 kilometres long—along that coastline. There
are new or refurbished campgrounds at Cave Point and Hamersley Inlet, as well
as new toilets, new barbecues and a whole host of facilities. Quite simply, the
level of creative design that has gone into that project from the Department of
Parks and Wildlife landscape team and the quality of work from Main Roads
contractors, parks and wildlife contractors, and the 70 local businesses in
Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe that have worked on this project is to a standard
that I have not seen anywhere else in this state, and they are to be
congratulated for their level of work and commitment to this project. This project
is a precursor of what is to come from this state government; it is a perfect
example of what we will do with our Parks for People program as we invest in
more national parks, particularly across our south west and midwest, and in our
caravanning and camping strategy to provide this level of experience.
We did this for three key reasons.
One is to provide access for all people to get into this park, including
all-weather access. Previously, people were at the mercy of the elements to
even get into Fitzgerald River National Park, and it was very hard for
businesses in Hopetoun to build the tourism industry if those tourists do not
even know whether they could get to the natural wonders in the Fitzgerald River
National Park, which has now been provided with those 40 kilometres of sealed
roads. Also, those sealed roads are very important for dieback control for that
national park. Fitzgerald River National Park is one of the last largely
untouched areas in this state in terms of the spread of dieback. Now with those
sealed roads, better drainage catchments and boot cleaning stations at all of
those walk trails we have a far better management than we had before of that
pathogen, which has run rampant through our forests in many other areas of this
state. That is a far better level of environmental control as we encourage
visitors into that park. A big part of the reason that we want to make it
easier to get into parks so people interact with them in the right way is to
increase awareness and appreciation of what our natural gems have to offer.
This is one of the state's eight biodiversity hotspots—just
that single national park. By and large the large proportion of young people in
the state live in the metropolitan area and we need opportunities for them to get
out to regional areas and national parks such as the Fitzgerald River National
Park so they can grow up with an appreciation of conservation and why it is
important in this state.
In closing, the other reason we have
made this investment right at the outset was for the benefit of those two
communities of Hopetoun and Ravensthorpe. Following that decision of BHP
Billiton in 2009 to pull out of the nickel mine, a level of pessimism pervaded
those communities and tourism industries were struggling to get off the ground,
so this investment was made. We are already seeing a marked improvement in that
area with a 25 per cent increase in visitation to Fitzgerald River National
Park in the last 12 months alone, and I still do not think the majority of the
state has even realised that it is there. We have already seen new holiday
accommodation being approved in town and I have to say that having been down
there this past weekend, a sense of optimism pervades the towns that I do not
think was there back in 2009.
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