Three Capes walkers kick $3.3m into Tasmanian Government coffers

THE hugely popular Three Capes Track has raised about $3.3 million so far for State Government coffers.

THE hugely popular Three Capes Track has raised about $3.3 million so far for State Government coffers.

The amount — revealed today in State Parliament — was raised from just 10 months of operation, with ticket sales for the coastal trek only starting in September 2015.

The figures detailing a big jump in park visitation and profits are contained in the first progress report on the Parks 21 Plan, a joint State Government and Tourism Industry Council of Tasmania initiative.

SEE THE THREE CAPES GALLERY

A massive $17.2 million dollars was raised from Parks and Wildlife Service assets in the year to 2016 — a 37 per cent increase on the previous year.

A total of 39 per cent of all visitors to Tasmania, or 457,000 people, visited at least one national park compared to 36.3 per cent, or 380,800, in 2014.

State Growth Minister Matt Groom said the success of the Three Capes Track validated the Government’s policy of unlocking national parks and reserves to sensitive and appropriate tourism developments.

“Other information in the report shows that gross revenue raised through the Parks and Wildlife Service’s park entry fees and business enterprises has risen by 10 per cent over the last two financial years; from $12.57 million dollars in 2014-15, to $13.85 million dollars in 2015-16,” the Minister said in a statement.

“Of significance in these figures is an 18 per cent increase in the revenue from the sale of park passes.

“This equates to an increase of more than $1 million that the Parks and Wildlife Service retains and reinvests in visitor services and infrastructure and park management initiatives, ensuring a high-quality, safe and sustainable visitor experience.”

The upbeat assessment comes just a day after a damning report card from the Auditor-General on the management of national park infrastructure, visitor safety, weed and disease control.

MORE: PARKS REVIEW HIGHLIGHTS SAFETY AND PEST ISSUES

Auditor-General Rod Whitehead has questioned whether funding for parks is sufficient to manage the hundreds of thousands of hectares transferred to Parks from Forestry Tasmania.

In 2013, PWS took over responsibility for 315,600ha of former FT reserves under the Tasmanian Forests Intergovernmental Agreement — an increase of 12.6 per cent of land under PWS management. Another 412,000ha of Crown Land designated as future potential production forest was placed under PWS’s responsibility.

Mr Whitehead said PWS revenue per hectare had been “sharply declining” since 2010.

In 2012, a Legislative Council Committee said PWS’s funding would need to be increased from $10 per hectare to $16 per hectare, which is well below the existing funding level of $12 per hectare.

Walkers on the Three Capes Track.

Originally published as Three Capes walkers kick $3.3m into Tasmanian Government coffers