URGENT - Sign petition TODAY
The Queensland Government is calling for expressions of interest (by 30 Nov 2018) from private developers to take out leases for up to 60 years to construct private accommodation in Hinchinbrook Island along the Thorsborne Trail, Whitsunday Island and Cooloola national parks. The government is also offering private operators the right to run exclusive guided tours in those parks for up to 60 years. In addition the government is offering those private developers a $5 million incentive to establish their private businesses in publicly owned national parks. Sign our petition to call on the premier to stop this plan before it is too late!
Hinchinbrook Island, Whitsunday Island and Cooloola have been declared national parks because of their exceptional scientific, ecological, heritage and recreational values. Any changes to the land tenure of those national parks will lessen the protection of those exceptional values.
Public opinion, actively demonstrated over decades, indicates that citizens believe that areas declared as National Parks form a vital part of the state's heritage for all to enjoy.
We call upon Queensland Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk, and Minister for Environment and the Great Barrier Reef, Leeanne Enoch, to ensure that:
- The whole of Hinchinbrook Island, Whitsunday Island and Cooloola National Parks are retained as national park with no private development within them
- The three national parks are properly managed so as to protect their exceptional values
- No private development is permitted within any of Queensland's national parks.