For many decades, camping in national parks has been seen as an affordable way for all Australians to enjoy time in our incredible natural wilderness areas.
Over the years though, as park entry fees have arrived and camping fees have risen, there have been persistent questions about whether some people were being ‘priced out’ of enjoying nature.
Grey nomads, of course – who commonly spend extended periods in national parks rather than just the odd weekend – have also felt the rising costs acutely.
But it is not just higher fees for ‘regular camping’ that has been accused of segregating the wealthy from the rest.
The rise of glamping in our national parks has been, and continues to be, a highly divisive issue.
The Queensland Government’s plan to open a ‘glamping’ eco-tourism experience at the Great Sandy National Park is the latest initiative to raise hackles.
The Gympie Times reports that conservationists and residents have launched a petition against the plan to build almost a half dozen cabins along the 100-kilometre Cooloola Great Walk trail between Rainbow Beach and Noosa.
The petition lodged by Noosaville’s Matthew Noffke and sponsored by Maiwar MP Michael Berkman, calls the plan ‘inappropriate, unnecessary, and works to segregate community members by providing exclusive high end infrastructure and services’.
“The Recreation Area is currently accessible to anyone willing to experience it,” the petition says. “The spending of millions of dollars to cater for 5,500 out of over 300,000 park users is a gross misuse of public funds.”
Mr Noffke told the Gympie Times that, if approved, the cabins would fetch $600 per night. A cost, he says, which is out of reach for most and will lock locals out of what should be a publicly accessible national park.
He said the project would represent a significant change of use for the park and believed it would open the gate to private development in Queensland national parks becoming legally acceptable.
However, the State Government says the proposal would more than double the number of campers drawn to the park, and was ‘ecologically sustainable’ and ‘in line with best practice ecotourism guidelines’.
Minister for the Environment and Great Barrier Reef Meaghan Scanlon told the Gympie Times that action would be taken to protect the natural, cultural and public elements of the park during development. She said the development will provide ‘a more diverse offering of nature-based tourism products, attractions and services in regional Queensland’.
The high cost of glamping is also causing a storm over in the west.
An investigation by WA Today has revealed that the cost for a family to stay in one of Rottnest Island’s glamping tents has skyrocketed.
The $25 million glamping development near Pinky Beach opened in March 2019, with Discovery Rottnest Island director Tim Crosland saying at the time that the 83 tents across four price points would appeal to couples, families and friends on a budget, as well as those who wanted to splurge.
However, WA Today says the cheapest accommodation – a standard tent that sleeps two – used to cost $1184 for four nights in peak season, now it is $3765. If you want to spend a couple of weeks in a deluxe family tent in peak season, it will apparently cost you $17,290.
A Discovery Rottnest Island spokesperson said the eco-glamping development was hit heavily during the height of Covid, with the island closed to tourists for a considerable period of time.
The company said the in-demand higher-end accommodation only made up a small portion of what was available.
“Running a business on Rottnest Island is incredibly expensive and we are grateful that a strong recovery and increased room rate driven by this demand, has enabled us to recover these losses,” the spokesperson told WA Today. “Like most tourism operators, our pricing is adjusted to demand and is at its highest over the peak summer period.”
And the governing authority’s most recent Rottnest Island Management Plan said it was inaccurate to associate the island with social or economic privilege, and attributed those claims to potential visitors being unaware of the many low-cost options available to stay on the island.
A spokesperson for the Rottnest Island Authority told WA Today that the authority had focused on renewing and expanding the range of accommodation options on the island and there remained plenty of affordable options, even in peak season.
“Rottnest Island Authority operate the self-contained accommodation, dormitory, campground and hostel on the island with prices during January 2023 starting from $40 per night for a campground site,” the spokesperson said.
Seams like they have lost the plot the parks are for everyone. Weather you are wealthy or poor, most people who were Bourne before the 1950 who worked hard and did not have the super of others Bourne later can not afford to stop in some NP that cost more than some caravan parks or Motels and Hotels that have to pay rates and wages over and well above NP, and we all are sitting back letting Public Servants rip us all off,
I think it is rather dear enough for just a night $37 and if your lucky you could get a cold shower, In a park near us you only get a drop toilet, not worth the effort to go there. We don’t use them because we liked to just rock on up and pay in an envelope, now you have to book in advance, and when travelling we don’t know where or when we will be in the area. We like spontanaety of touring, and you could be in an area with no signal so can’t book. so we don’t use parks anymore. Apparently their has been a 60% drop in campers attending Nat. Parks all over Australia, since the prices went up, and you have to book online. So I can see parks being closed due to lack of use as well.
The national parks are supposed to belong to the tax payers and be resonably cheap so families can have a cheap holiday.But here in qld anyhow they are anything but, it is a lot of the time cheaper to stay in a low cost park with actual toilets and showers.We love the bush but its not cost effectave.Yet I have already paid for the national park in my taxes.
we stayed at Minni Waters NSW a few years ago and got just long drops for $20/n that where filthy spoke to a bloke in the caravan park and could of had a site for $22/nite was I cranky at myself you bet
I agree with Rick. It look like the Department has got into thinking, they are upmarket developer instead of public servants looking after public spaces.
Is anyone actually surprised at the actions of the Queensland Government departments. If it’s too expensive don’t pay it and find an alternative. Personally, I think you have to have rocks in your head to pay the prices for glamping and Rottnest Island. National parks should be free and money raised from fining people not following the rules.