NSW Environment Minister Must Pay Councils and Settle Fence Costs Before Buying National Park Land; New Reporting Rules for Park Land Purchases

National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Land Boundaries and Acquisitions) Bill 2026 (No 2)

Independent Bill

25 Jun 2026: MPs in the first house are debating whether this bill is a good idea in principle.

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

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Topics

environmental protection government accountability land management land use local government

Introduced by: Roy Butler MP (IND)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

The Environment Minister cannot acquire land for national parks unless two conditions are met. First, there must be a clear agreement on who pays for boundary fences between the park and private land. Second, the local council must be compensated for any lost revenue caused by the acquisition.
Before acquiring land, the Environment Minister must get a report from the regional advisory committee. This report must explain the expected environmental benefits and the economic impact on local businesses and council rates.
Local councils can nominate a temporary member to join the regional advisory committee. This person can only participate in matters related to the report for that specific piece of land.
Five years after acquiring land, the Environment Minister must review whether the acquisition met its goals and present a report on the results to Parliament.

News articles and press releases

National Parks and Wildlife Amendment (Land Boundaries and Acquisitions) Bill 2026 (No 2)

Mr ROY BUTLER, Member for Barwon — 2026-06-25

Schedule 1 provides that, before acquiring land under the National Parks and Wildlife Act, the Minister must obtain a report on the acquisition’s policy objectives from the regional advisory committee that administers the area where the land is located. There are 7.6 million hectares of land in New South Wales as part of the New South Wales national park estate. Given ongoing and significant land acquisitions, there should be a policy to assess the economic impact on the local economy, including expected revenue from the acquisitions, the effect on private businesses with a commercial connection to the land, and the impact on council rates.