‘PUBLIC INTERESTS MORE IMPORTANT THAN OUR PRIVATE INTERESTS’
Lamington National Park: One of Queensland’s iconic nature-based tourism enterprises had added its voice to objecting to the construction of tourist facilities in Queensland’s national parks.
Binna Burra Lodge – located on private land adjacent to the Lamington National Park in south east Queensland – is lending its support to the campaign by the Queensland National Parks Association (NPAQ) to object to the construction of private sector, commercial tourist facilities in Queensland national parks.
‘We support nature conservation as the primary purpose of national parks’ said Steve Noakes, Chair of the Board of Directors of Binna Burra Lodge.
He added: ‘Accordingly, we also support the advocacy of NPAQ that sections of Queensland’s national parks should not be privatised. They are community assets primarily set-aside for biodiversity protection. Private sector commercial accommodation should be located outside national parks to protect their natural value.’
Binna Burra Lodge and NPAQ share a common foundation. In 1930, pioneering conservationists, Romeo Lahey and Arthur Groom established the NPAQ with the aim to ‘preserve intact in their natural condition the existing national parks of Queensland and to secure the reservation of other suitable areas before it is too late’. Three years later, in 1933, these two visionaries founded Binna Burra Lodge with the vision to create a place where people could stay and experience the beauty of the Lamington National Park rainforest.
‘National parks are a key resource, accessible and owned by the public. Binna Burra supports low-impact public access to Queensland’s National Parks, and, like the NPAQ, we believe that taxpayers’ money should not be used to support commercial eco-tourism that could undermine our State’s national park system.’ explained Noakes.
Back in the 1930’s Romeo Lahey stated that there was “no body of public opinion … organised to combat the influences which were operating against the best interests of National Parks”.
‘Now, almost 100 years later, the two organisations Lahey co-founded still adhere to his vision to protect Queensland’s spectacular natural assets. Public interests remain more important than our private interests’ concluded Noakes.
Media contact: [email protected]
