Grey nomads and other interstate travellers to the Northern Territory are to be slugged with more national park entry fees from 2022.
The NT Government has announced that more parks including Litchfield National Park near Darwin and Nitmiluk National Park outside of Katherine are likely to be among those soon requiring a paid entry permit.
The ABC report that, previously, all NT Government-run national parks have had free entry for all visitors. However, the Territory’s two biggest federally-run tourism drawcards, Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Parks, already have paid permits systems in place.
The new charges will only apply to interstate holidaymakers, with NT locals exempt from having to pay for short trips to the parks.
An NT Government spokeswoman told the ABC that park fees in the Territory had not increased for the past 20 years, and that fees provide would funds for improvements to parks and reserves.
The spokeswoman said changes to park passes wouldn’t happen this year, but flagged that they would be included in the 2021 budget, due around November. She said the government was also considering an online booking system, while price changes to camping and multi-day walking trips are also being reviewed.
Tourism Top End chief executive Glen Hingley said the fees would be “yet another impediment that’s put on businesses that makes their business unviable in these uncertain times”.
However, some visitors say they would be happy to pay to visit the parks in the future. The ABC spoke to Victorian tourist, Jack Collins, at Buley Waterhole in Litchfield National Park.
“I’d 100% come here, tell my family about it, happy to pay to come here,” Mr Collins said. “It’s great. Nothing like it in Victoria.”
Tourist, Terrina Fernando, felt the same way.
“I’m from Sydney and all our national parks have parking fees and that sort of park-use fees,” she said. “It’s not something that’s unusual for me.”
This is not a shock nor are we travellers to be slugged. WE are to pay a fee to enjoy some fantastic places. Hopefully all the money goes towards managing these great places.
National parks should be left natural with no ugly man made
barriers & walkways ! Thus these fees would be kept to a minimum.
It is also high time to allow dogs on leads !
I agree stop the paving, the handrails, the signs and the buildings, but keep the dogs and all domesticated animals out – forever!
You have to pay entre fees every where else, why not in the NT.
We don’t mind paying, if reasonable rates. But why hit the tourist dollar. We have been to other places where tourists/travellers are charged, not the locals, yet often it is the locals that leave a mess, abusing the free facilities. Tourists put money into areas everywhere, now they are expected to pay for services (if any) while state/territory residents don’t !
I dont mind paying a fee as long as NT people are also charged as everywhere else you go interstate everyone is charged whether they live in the state or not .
I really wonder how efficient it is to manage these service fees. Most of the fees would be used to cover the cost of putting on extra staff to manage it. You’ve only to look at some of the ‘charities’ where most of the donations go to administration costs and little to the intended recipient.
The interesting thing is that all national parks are funded through the state governments, financed by the people … the very people who then have to pay again to gain access. Go figure!
Zol, you are 100% correct, the issue is that these incompetent governments charge additional taxes for this and that and then have the audacity to say that the tourist must then pay an entry fee, never mind the double dipping. The tourists have to start to wake up that these governments will continue to impose fees on us mugs whilst ever we just say, “ooh well someone has to pay,” wrong stop paying twice for all these parks and sites that actually belong to the people anyway and the government might actually get it.