NSW Government Considers Allowing “Supported Camping” In National Parks

The NSW Government is looking into an expression of interest proposal from NSW National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) that will allow commercial providers access to reserve and operate in selected public campsites in NSW national parks. 

According to the expression of interest, released on the NSW Government’s website, the national parks and reserves that will be included spans “23 campgrounds across 16 national parks and reserves”. The interest also states, “Camping support services may include tent or caravan hire and/or setup, equipment and bedding hire, and optional food and related offerings”. There are more than 895 national parks and reserves in NSW.

Proposal criticised for limiting accessibility instead of increasing it

It is explained that the goal with offering supported camping is to meet the high demands in NSW. Stats provided in the interest concludes that, “62 per cent of adults are already camping or are open to trying camping and around 10 per cent have never camped before but are keen to try.”

The interest also states, “By offering a service that provides fully set-up camping gear, we can make camping more accessible, encourage more people to explore the outdoors, and help them gain confidence.” 

Penny Sharpe, Environmental Minister for the current Labour government, backs up the proposal and explained in a question time in the parliament, that the government is in fact “in favour of supported camping” and added, “We want as many people as possible to enjoy our national parks. We want to find people who will do that in a different way that does not depend on their being a super-fit bushwalker”.

However, the proposal has attracted criticism as it contains the suggestion that booking and reservations for camping will now be possible in the selected areas, and that this initiative therefore limits options for the general camper. Sue Higginson, Greens environment spokeswoman, told the Sydney Morning Herald that she thinks the proposal limits accessibility instead of increasing it,

“They talk about increasing accessibility. If you mean that, hand on heart, you increase the number of campgrounds – there are not enough spaces as it is. You already have a tiny, tiny, tiny land base, and now you are going to exclude the community from it.”

Higginson explained that she finds the proposal “regrettable” and “inequitable” and expressed concerns that the scheme was a “beachhead” for the further privatisation of public campgrounds.

Opposition environment spokesman James Griffin also commented on the proposal stating that he finds the current Labour government’s support for this proposal “ironic”, as they are the ones that have previously criticised the former Liberal government’s proposal to create more multi-day walks in national parks and called it “privatisation by stealth”.