r/melbourne • u/TMiguelT • 1d ago
Politics Victoria has three new national parks for the first time in over a decade, spanning 65,000 hectares
https://secretmelbourne.com/three-new-national-parks-in-victoria/108
u/TMiguelT 1d ago edited 21h ago
These are existing state forests and state parks that have been upgraded to national parks.
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u/herpesderpesdoodoo 13h ago
Would have been nice to have a map or more comprehensive listings of the smaller additions. Aside from general interest in visiting, there's amateur radio activities called "Parks on the Air" (POTA) and "World Wide Flora and Fauna" (WWFF) that involve making contact with people via radio from these sorts of parks and I'm sure there'd be plenty of people keen to activate them especially as a first operator.
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u/Gloomy-Case4266 12h ago
A few more places the dog can now no longer go. List is getting quite short for hikes
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u/Dartius 9h ago edited 9h ago
It’s a shame but at the same time a lot of dog walkers are neglectful filthy pricks. I hate walking my dog around and seeing fucking dog shit and bags of dog shit everywhere.
Maybe if people actually cleaned up after their dogs and kept them on leads then we would be trusted to take them into the parks.
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u/Krotiuz 12h ago
It's not a blanket ban on dog walking or camping with dogs, although it does say tracks only where specified.
Seems a lot of the allowed activities are carrying over.
https://www.parks.vic.gov.au/projects/southwest-victoria/central-west-transition
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u/Lonely_Message_1113 13h ago
The moaning from prospectors and hunters on my local social pages is diabolical, they insist that they are being "locked out" and the whole parks will go up like a match come summer. There are hundreds of places they can still prospect and hunt but that's not good enough apparently.
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u/Previous_Drawing_521 13h ago
Yep. Somehow it’s all the Greens fault, and they’re not being properly maintained because Greens so we’ll have a massive bushfire season. You know, despite the Greens not being in power.
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u/Electric___Monk 12h ago
It’s amazing how the greens manage to be responsible for everything bad while, at the same time, there’s no point voting for them because they can’t really change anything!
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u/Lonely_Message_1113 11h ago
Schrodinger's party? Both responsible for everything and they have no power to change anything!
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u/National_Way_3344 5h ago
If they're a secret cabal of people who hold all power, why is that demonstrably not the case
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u/FlaviusStilicho 9h ago
Greens lost me on the “no weapons for Ukraine” policy.
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u/Electric___Monk 4h ago
Yeah - I’m not a fan of that either but A) that’s federal and B) they’re overall still better than the main alternatives on most other issues.
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u/Chilli_Wil 11h ago
Ehh. The Greens can still have influence even if they aren’t the majority. There’s 11 crossbench seats in the Council, 4 of which are the Greens, so they can definitely be driving certain policy decisions.
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u/Mushie101 8h ago
Actually the places are getting smaller and smaller. There are not 100's of places.
Changing to NP's locks out MTB, fishing, general camping, rogaining all sorts of activities. Plus we now dont spend money in local communities because we have gone elsewhere. As well as the hunting. I am not a hunter and couldnt do it myself, but they help protect the native flora and fauna by killing the deer, foxes and other pests.
The govt would prefer our kids sit at home and watch national geographic documentaries on things that we used to be able to do.
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u/Lonely_Message_1113 8h ago
I'm not sure if this site is out of date but it lists 104 locations relating to gold prospecting, perhaps some of those are historical but that could still be of interest to new prospectors? https://www.goldfieldsguide.com.au/explore/search/t/,16/c/,/7/
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u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 7h ago
The point is there was over 500 and could soon be fewer. They might also be far away, small or lower quality.
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u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 7h ago
They are being locked out though. National Parks is a pretty name but it's unpopular with the main bush users for a good reason.
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u/Lonely_Message_1113 7h ago
As far as I've read the only things banned are firewood collection, gold prospecting, and hunting at certain times of year. You can still hike, fish, camp, ride mountain and trail bikes, 4WD, walk dogs (on lead), horse ride, and have camp fires - not exactly a total lockout
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u/Self-Translator 3h ago
So a lockout fpr prospectors and hunters.
I don't do either of these things and support national parks. But saying the only things banned are the things being co.mplained about is dismissive.
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u/OkTemperature-8534 20h ago edited 20h ago
On the topic of new national parks, we could've also had the Great Forest National Park, effectively one continuous NP stretching from Mt Disappointment in the north, through Kinglake, Toolangi, Eildon and the Yarra Ranges in the east, and all the way down to Baw Baw and the foothills of the Latrobe Valley to the southeast.
The Central Highlands region that it would've protected contains some of our most endangered flora and fauna, including the entire ecosystem built around our giant Mountain Ash trees.
However, the State Government has sadly ruled out that it would happen under their governance after lobbying from the likes of logging and hunting groups.
We rank worst out of all of the capital cities for access to national parks and protected forests, and decisions to not declare NPs like that don't help.
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u/tinniesmasher69 11h ago
Great forest national park is well overdue, and it’s a national tragedy that it hasn’t happened yet. So many species on the brink of extinction
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u/SmellyNinjaWarrior 11h ago
Don’t worry, Pauline will begin logging in these parks once they get into power. /s
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u/EducationalShake6773 13h ago
Nice, that should mean dogs are no longer allowed in those parks.
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u/Mushie101 8h ago
Changing to NP's locks out MTB, fishing, general camping, rogaining all sorts of activities. Plus we now dont spend money in local communities because we have gone elsewhere. As well as the hunting. I am not a hunter and couldnt do it myself, but they help protect the native flora and fauna by killing the deer, foxes and other pests.
The govt would prefer our kids sit at home and watch national geographic documentaries on things that we used to be able to do.
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u/Lonely_Message_1113 8h ago
You can MTB, fish (excluding marine), camp, 4WD in most national parks, hunting and dogs on lead are also permitted in some national parks.... https://vnpa.org.au/nationalparksfaq/
Having seen first hand the disregard for conservation (e.g. campers trampling all through fenced conservation areas to collect fire wood, dirt bike riders tearing through nature reserves) and coming across literal human sh*t on remote hiking trails I can fully appreciate the reasoning behind limiting human activity in certain areas!
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u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 7h ago
Nah. It's just in allowed, small, restricted places. No MTB in the Grampians at all, and camping is being pushed to curated glamping trails.
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u/Brotary 6h ago
You can dispersed camp in Grampians, last time I checked.
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u/Lonely_Message_1113 6h ago
There are certain areas where you cannot camp dispersed but still plenty that you can: https://docs.wixstatic.com/ugd/94c49e_24bbca76a1b34d9eb4da5b50bfdc79d7.pdf
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u/Mushie101 6h ago
Exactly. They have basically tried to ban rock climbing there as well.
Certainly can’t 4wd.
I also don’t like the “it’s just symbolic” approach. Because you know in 5 years time it will be amended and then amended until you have nothing.
Let’s look at mt warning.
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u/Lonely_Message_1113 6h ago
That's odd because I was 4wding in the Grampians earlier this year with my family that was visiting from NZ. Sure it wasn't extreme off roading and having to cut through bush and rivers but they were still impressed with the tracks and views, there was nothing there giving us the impression that it was illegal?
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u/EducationalShake6773 7h ago
Actually it looks like everything that was previously allowed will still be allowed with the exception of gold prospecting and firewood collection. Even hunting will still be allowed in season with a permit, and dog walking in certain areas. More a symbolic change than anything else
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u/Mushie101 6h ago
I also don’t like the “it’s just symbolic” approach. Because you know in 5 years time it will be amended and then amended until you have nothing.
Let’s look at Mt Warning - walking track banned for over 6 years now while its "under review" and that has been extended to 2027.
Climbing at Grampians - more and more restricted (for BS reasons)
Climbing at Arapilies - almost wiped out until a massive campaign over a number of years and fighting to bring it back, massive waste of money and time.And what the heck is the problem with some kids gold prospecting. My kids have had great time doing that. FFS.
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u/EducationalShake6773 5h ago
I think the problem with gold prospecting is digging up the forest and destroying the flora, which is very evident in the Bendigo region.
I'd rather the local native birds not have their nests and habitat destroyed for your kids fun when they could be having fun in a hundred other ways that don't fuck up and degrade the environment.
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u/Beast_of_Guanyin 12h ago edited 12h ago
Pretty sad about this. It's not new parks, it's converting state parks into national ones. With fewer rights for park users.
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u/Mushie101 6h ago
They want all the kids to watch discovery channel to see what we used to be able to do, from the comfort of your home couch. That way they dont have to spend money on roads and managing the place.
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u/fist4j 12h ago
I like/liked to camp and gold pan. About 12 months ago parks dropped literal boulders over track entrances where I would go. Its over three hours drive, so now I just don't go vs getting there and being forced to camp ontop of people or a bad spot.
I was never out making a mess, and I'm in a 2wd so not bush bashing or causing damage that way either.
I'm aware no one cares, but I'm also not spending money in the local communities anymore as a flow on result in places I cant access anymore. Same deal with the new restrictions.
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u/DancinWithWolves 10h ago
Yeah but we can’t not protect it from damage/people because you didn’t make a mess. You get that, right?
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u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 7h ago
So close everything you say?
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u/DancinWithWolves 7h ago
Protect everything through limited access and prioritise the preservation of the land over a small number of people who want unfettered access
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u/fist4j 10h ago
You get that people who set out to dump, damage, bushbash will do it regardless, right?
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u/DancinWithWolves 10h ago
Nope. Much harsher penalties, more enforceable across different agencies etc once they’re national parks
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u/Mushie101 8h ago
Yep it crap isnt it. The general population think more NP is good for all of us to enjoy the parks. Little do they realise its locking us out of the parks.
MTB, fishing, general camping, exploring, gold panning, 4wd, hunting all coming to an end or at least heavily regulated.
The govt would prefer our kids sit at home and watch national geographic documentaries on things that we used to be able to do.
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u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 7h ago
This is it, but tourists will just see the picture of a possum and go AH YES!
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u/Necessary_Eagle_3657 7h ago
This is not a good thing which is why the majority voted against it. I'm afraid parties like ON will get in if Labor keeps alienating the rural users like this.
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u/Mushie101 6h ago
Yep, I am not a fan of ON, and I used to vote labor. But it is definitely things like this that make me look at other parties. For the moment Liberals will be getting my vote. With labor, ON and greens fighting it out for bottom place.
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u/Comfortable-Award915 16h ago
Did the Labor party write this? It's not 3 'new' national parks, they've expanded some existing parks and incorporated others.
This is likely soon to be related to carbon credits - Labor giving some corporate mates a way to keep polluting by the government promising not to cut down trees and it's timed so that Labor can announce something at the COP environmental conference in Turkiye.
Shameless.
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u/SoggyInsurance 14h ago
That’s not how carbon credits work. You can’t use a national park for that. Carbon credits have to be special standalone projects.
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u/Comfortable-Award915 7h ago
https://australiainstitute.org.au/post/stop-dodgy-koala-for-coal-carbon-offsets-deal/
It's already happening. You create the park but tell Australians that you'll only save the koalas from logging if you can sell carbon credits to polluters.
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u/5870guy111 6h ago
making pollution industries that aren't going away any time soon (steel mills, airlines, etc) pay for environmental conservation seems like a good idea to me?
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u/Comfortable-Award915 6h ago
The point is to lower your emissions or offset them by creating a project. You can't really take an existing state park and decide that you've created a national park therefore you've offset the emissions you're creating. You've created nothing - the park was already there offsetting carbon all along. All you've done is move a name in a ledger from one category to another.
It's a rort and corrupt. And very Labor.
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u/SoggyInsurance 4h ago
But they’ve already created the National Park in Vic now so can’t argue that it’s a “new” project
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