Scoop has an Ethical Paywall
Work smarter with a Pro licence Learn More

Gordon Campbell | Parliament TV | Parliament Today | News Video | Crime | Employers | Housing | Immigration | Legal | Local Govt. | Maori | Welfare | Unions | Youth | Search

 

National Parks First and Foremost Belong to Kiwis


National Parks First and Foremost Belong to Kiwis


National parks are by law the ‘people’s parks” and New Zealanders should have free entry with tourists charged a national park levy on entering the country says a national outdoor recreation advocacy.

“National parks by law belong to New Zealand citizens,” said Andi Cockroft, co-chairman Council of Outdoor Recreation Associations of New Zealand (CORANZ). “On the other hand all international tourists entering could be charged a levy, a simple and neat way to do it.”

Andi Cockroft was responding to a report that International tourists may have to start paying to visit national parks as the Department of Conservation struggles to cope with the tourism boom.

Last year, tourism replaced the dairy industry as the top foreign exchange earner for the first time in five years, bringing in $13.5 billion, compared with $13b for dairy.

“Underlying this is the shortsightedness of immediate past prime minister John Key who as Minister of Tourism often advocated reaching tourism targets measured in terms of visitors. It’s not about quantity, it should be about quality in targeting high spending affluent tourists instead of playing a maximum numbers game,” said Andi Cockroft.

He said the resource whether national parks or other aspect of the infrastructure, was finite and liable to be stretched to bursting point.

“Growth for growth’s sake by numbers is crazy,” he said.

At the same time, flooding the country with low spending tourists was putting pressure on Kiwis’ holiday spots and national parks thereby diminishing the New Zealand public’s enjoyment and quality of life. The folly of allowing ‘shoestring’ visitors such as freedom campers was of low dollar value and with rubbish often left, was despoiling the public’s outdoors.

“The NZ public end up paying for the cleanup,” he said.

Andi Cockroft said the debate on visitors paying to visit national parks was a great opportunity to right the wrong that Kiwis had to pay to visit their own parks and stay in huts.

“The reasoning is simple. Kiwis pay taxes and have already paid,” he said.


ends

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading

Are you getting our free newsletter?

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.

© Scoop Media

Advertisement - scroll to continue reading
 
 
 
Parliament Headlines | Politics Headlines | Regional Headlines



Gordon Campbell: On Dune 2, And Images Of Islam


Depictions of Islam in Western popular culture have rarely been positive, even before 9/11. Five years on from the mosque shootings, this is one of the cultural headwinds that the Muslim community has to battle against. Whatever messages of tolerance and inclusion are offered in daylight, much of our culture tends to be hostile to Islam when we’re sitting in the dark, with popcorn.
Any number of movie examples come to mind, beginning with Rudolf Valentino’s role (over a century ago) as the romantic Arab hero in The Sheik...
More


 
 


Government: One-stop Shop Major Projects On The Fast Track

The Coalition Government’s new one-stop-shop fast track consenting regime for regional and national projects of significance will cut red tape and make it easier for New Zealand to build the infrastructure and major projects needed to get the country moving again... More

ALSO:


Government: GPS 2024: Over $20 Billion To Get Transport Back On Track
Transport Minister Simeon Brown has released the draft Government Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport, outlining the Coalition Government’s plan to build and maintain a transport system that enables people to get to where they need to go quickly and safely... More

ALSO:

Government: Humanitarian Support For Gaza & West Bank

Winston Peters has announced NZ is providing a further $5M to respond to the extreme humanitarian need in Gaza and the West Bank. “The impact of the Israel-Hamas conflict on civilians is absolutely appalling," he said... More


Government: New High Court Judge Appointed

Judith Collins has announced the appointment of Wellington Barrister Jason Scott McHerron as a High Court Judge. Justice McHerron graduated from the University of Otago with a BA in English Literature in 1994 and an LLB in 1996... More

 
 
 
 
 
 

LATEST HEADLINES

  • PARLIAMENT
  • POLITICS
  • REGIONAL
 
 

InfoPages News Channels


 
 
 
 

Join Our Free Newsletter

Subscribe to Scoop’s 'The Catch Up' our free weekly newsletter sent to your inbox every Monday with stories from across our network.