Territory park fee plan to include online booking system, charges for walking trails and higher cost for camping spots

Territorians will not be asked to pay to make day trips to parks such as Litchfield and Nitmiluk, the NT government has insisted, although plans are in the pipeline to begin charging interstate visitors.

TERRITORIANS will not be asked to pay to make day trips to parks such as Litchfield and Nitmiluk, the NT government has insisted, although plans are in the pipeline to begin charging interstate visitors.

More details have emerged about the government’s newest revenue-raising plan after it was first revealed by the NT News on Friday that an idea in 2019 to begin charging park use fees was set to become a reality.

The government has since confirmed it would introducing fees for multi-day walking trails, such as the Larapinta Trail, and increase camping fees from July 2021.

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A new online booking system will also be introduced.

The government, in a statement, confirmed that it was looking into “future arrangements” for interstate visitors but no changes were planned for this year.

The government insists “nothing will change” for Territorians making day trips to places such as Litchfield and Nitmiluk, and entry will be free.

Further details about the new charges are set to be released in the coming week.

The NT is one of the few jurisdictions in Australia, alongside Queensland and Victoria, which does not charge park entry fees.

NSW charges park entry fees of $4-$12 per vehicle for a single day at 45 out of 870 national parks and reserves.

A NSW government report shows a total of $23.5m was raised from annual and day entry fees in the pre-pandemic financial year of 2018-19.

In South Australia, where entry fees apply at some parks, budget documents reveal the government raised $9.8m from “admissions and guided tours” in 2018-19.

Walkers on the Larapinta Trail, in the West MacDonnel Ranges, may soon have to pay an entry fee.

The NT government has argued the changes will “improve visitor experience to our parks and reserves and to ensure appropriate protection and conservation for future generations”.

The government first raised the idea of charging park use fees in early 2019, and a raft of other revenue-raising measures including increasing the fees to get vanity licence plates, as part of its budget repair plan.

The then-tourism, sport and culture minister, Lauren Moss, said the government would “investigate models for introducing parks fees” and review walking fees for major tracks.

Budget documents from the time show the government hoped to raise $6m a year over the forward estimates from the whole suite of newly proposed revenue measures.