The New South Wales Parliament has passed legislation that will allow accommodation to be offered within the boundaries of their National Parks, a move which concerns nearby communities who rely on tourists staying in their town.

North coast Greens MP Ian Cohen said "We have, particularly on the north coast, quite a proliferation of community based facilities.

"What we're going to see more of is the potential for that one stop where people can just get bussed in or drive in to the national park itself and don't spend as much time in the local communities and towns around the area."

"To actually say 'yes we're going to develop within national parks' is actually, I think, robbing the local community of what is a valuable tourism dollar," he said. "That's part of our economy and that's all part of decentralising to local communities and I think the Government is ignoring that."

This is a disturbing development for ALL Australians, and one which I don't believe reflects the views of the public, something which our elected representatives seem to make a habit of.

When the line protecting our national parks is blurred or pushed out or trodden on, what other developments will be granted permission?  Mining springs to my mind. As resources become more scarce it seems that it's only a matter of time before OUR national parks become a little less secure.

Editors Comments: I thought the whole idea of a national parks is that it is a protected area to which visitors can be controlled to ensure no harm comes to the location in question.  How can you have a protected area that then allows the very people you're protecting the area from to stay?  I hope Queensland State Government doesn't jump on this band wagon.