The Hon. AILEEN MacDONALD (11:49): My question without notice is directed to the Minister for the Environment. Minister, why is the National Parks and Wildlife Service preferencing commercial businesses that supply supported camping services over ordinary families and community members who are trying to organise a camping trip in a national park, especially in a busy holiday season, by allowing those businesses to reserve campsites 365 days in advance and release up to 55 per cent of the sites they reserve just eight days before the camping date, with no cost to the business, while ordinary families can only make a booking 180 days in advance, must pay in full at the time of booking and are refunded only 50 per cent for a cancellation made up to 30 days before the date of camping?

The Hon. PENNY SHARPE (Minister for Climate Change, Minister for Energy, Minister for the Environment, and Minister for Heritage) (11:50): I thank the Hon. Aileen MacDonald for her question. It is a bit difficult to know from the question exactly which area we are talking about. However, there are a couple of things to be aware of. There is a review that is being finalised and includes the nature of the booking system and fees that are charged at camping sites across the State. There has been a lot of feedback about that. There are many different issues involved, but that is one part that is ongoing and the Government will update people about it. Secondly, a number of rules are in place.

Having a variety of businesses that operate within national parks is not new. In fact, it is very welcome. All sorts of ecotourism businesses rely on national parks. That is really their playground and where they operate. I am very familiar with some of them, particularly the ones in Kosciuszko, but they are operating all over the State and the Government welcomes that. Some fantastic Aboriginal businesses are doing incredible work there, too. There is an issue around some of the changes for what we refer to as supported camping. Some people who are very fit like to carry all their own gear, their own water and their own food. They get to go to beautiful places in our parks. A whole lot of people want to experience the beauty of our parks, but frankly, they are not in a position to buy all the gear, carry all the gear and are not fit enough to use all the gear. However, they want to do that, and the Government wants families to do that.

For a whole lot of people camping is not part of their background or the way in which they have lived their lives or they have not been able to go camping. The Government is in favour of supported camping. I do not apologise for contemplating that or for looking at ways in which more people can enjoy our national parks, Sometimes it is also partly about generating some revenue for the National Parks and Wildlife Service, that is perfectly fine. I understand some of the issues that have been raised in relation to this, but I am a little bit unclear from the question whether this is a specific issue. For example, there is a discussion about supported camping on Newnes Plateau. If the Hon. Aileen MacDonald provides some more detail, I am happy to obtain more specific information.

The bottom line is that the Government is looking for a way in which more people can enjoy our parks. Part of that is also managing the booking systems. Ghost bookings is a really big issue. We are looking at how we can incentivise people, if they are going to cancel, with ways that enable them to cancel. There is nothing worse than people turning up to find campsites have been booked but are empty and they cannot use them because they have not been cancelled. The Government is really trying to get to the bottom of this, but the principles are pretty basic. We want as many people as possible to enjoy our national parks. We want to find people who will do that in a different way that does not depend on their being a super fit bushwalker. I give a shout‑out to all those people who are because they get to see some of the best places in New South Wales. The Government is really trying to find different ways so that people can enjoy the experience in their own way.