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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2156 ..

MR CORBELL (10.39): Mr Speaker, I move:

That Determination No. 111 of 1997, relating to fees for access to Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve and made under the Nature Conservation Act 1980, be disallowed.

The Labor Party is moving this disallowance motion today to put very clearly on the record that we do not believe it is appropriate for the people of the Australian Capital Territory to pay to access their environment. For us, that is the most important basic principle. We believe that a reserve like Tidbinbilla should be accessible to all people in the Territory without having to pay an entry fee. This has been the consistent position of the Labor Party since self-government. We have always opposed the imposition of entrance fees at Tidbinbilla. In government we never accepted proposals from Treasury officials to implement any form of entrance charge on any of the Territory's national parks or nature reserves, and this is the position we are proud to maintain in moving this motion today.

Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve is a valuable community asset, and it is one which is valued very much by all Canberrans. Canberrans appreciate the access they have to this area. They can take their families, their children and their friends to visit the reserve and to appreciate Australian native animals in a natural environment. They can also enjoy the many walking trails in the national park zone of the reserve, where there are short walks for families as well as long walks for those who are more committed.

The principle of user pays has an insidious and creeping effect in many parts of our society, but I think we have to draw a line when we say that you have to pay to go into a part of the natural environment which is owned by the community and managed by the Territory on behalf of the community. The Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve for over 30 years has been a nature reserve which has been free and accessible to people in Canberra to use and to enjoy. We believe there is no reason why that situation should change.

Tidbinbilla's popularity with Canberrans and people from the surrounding region is demonstrated by the fact that they make up 87 per cent of all visitors to the reserve. Of this 87 per cent, many are of course repeat visitors, Canberrans who go back again and again, taking their family and friends to enjoy the natural environment that Tidbinbilla offers. The remaining 13 per cent are interstate and overseas visitors.

Labor believes that, because Tidbinbilla has had free access for 30 years, this should remain the case. This reserve has been paid for in full through the rates of ACT residents, and it is highly used by ACT residents. We are opposed to the notion that to experience areas of the ACT's natural environment owned and managed by the Territory on behalf of the community you should have to pay. That is why we are moving this motion today.

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