Butler's Bill Would Force National Parks to Pay Rates, Share Fencing Costs

IN SHORT

• Member for Barwon Roy Butler has introduced a bill requiring National Parks to pay council rates and share fencing costs with neighbouring landholders
• The legislation would also require cost-benefit analysis before park acquisitions and mandatory reporting five years later on whether environmental and economic goals were achieved
• Butler argues National Parks has been a "bad neighbour" in regional NSW, with communities seeing little environmental or economic benefit from recent park acquisitions

Member for Barwon Roy Butler has introduced legislation that would require National Parks to pay council rates and share fencing costs with neighbouring landholders across regional NSW.

The National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Land Boundaries and Acquisitions) Bill 2026 also mandates reporting on whether environmental and economic goals are achieved five years after any park acquisition.

Mr Butler delivered the second reading speech for the bill during the recent parliamentary sitting week, arguing it addresses longstanding grievances in regional communities about National Parks management.

"National parks have been dubbed a really bad neighbour in Barwon," Mr Butler told Parliament. "Not paying their portion of shared fencing costs, allowing feral animals to overrun parks and flow into neighbouring farms, allowing the proliferation of weeds to spread well outside park boundaries – the list goes on."

The bill comes as the NSW Government continues to acquire working pastoral properties for conversion to national parks, particularly in the Far West region.

Mr Butler's legislation would require a cost-benefit analysis before any acquisition, forcing consideration of economic impacts alongside environmental goals.

"In fact, my recent survey showed that just one in five people had seen environmental or economic benefits from local National Parks," Mr Butler said.

"They've made promises about increased tourism that never seem to bear fruit. It's also often unclear exactly what is being protected by the new National Parks."

Under the proposed legislation, the Minister would be required to report to Parliament five years after any acquisition on whether stated environmental and economic goals had been achieved.

The requirement for National Parks to pay council rates would provide a significant revenue boost for regional shires, which currently receive no rates income from National Parks land despite being responsible for roads and infrastructure servicing park boundaries.

The fencing cost-sharing provisions address a particular frustration for pastoral properties bordering National Parks land.

"Minister Kean is a nice bloke, and I get along with him well," Mr Butler said in an earlier parliamentary debate on the issue. "He is the type of bloke that if he and his neighbour’s shared fence was falling down, he would chip in half. Fair is fair, after all.

"I make a simple request of him today: Get the National Parks and Wildlife Service to be a good neighbour. Get it to pay half of the shared fence costs, both materials and installation."

Mr Butler has also raised concerns about National Parks conducting aerial culling of goats in parts of his electorate where mustering goats for the meat market forms a key part of the local economy.

For communities in Central Darling, Balranald, Carrathool and Hay, the management of National Parks land has direct economic impacts on neighbouring pastoral enterprises and local council budgets.

The bill will face further debate when Parliament resumes on 17 March.