Consultation with government
Reserves in the national parks system are permanently protected. Removal of resources, such as through logging or mining, is not allowed in most reserves.
To ensure that conservation is the most appropriate use for a given parcel of land, we discuss acquisition proposals with other government land-use agencies. This is called the reserve referral process.
Some Crown lands can only be reserved with the agreement of other ministers (or the agreement of agencies acting on behalf of that minister). The Minister for the Environment can act independently for all other land, but most acquisition proposals are referred to other agencies to identify competing interests and reach consensus before proceeding with reservation.
The reserve referral process usually occurs before land is acquired, but sometimes this is not possible. In these cases, the Minister for the Environment has ownership of the property, under Part 11 of the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974, until the reserve referral process is completed.
Acquisition proposals that do not require referral:
- inholdings within an existing reserve that is not a state conservation area
- outcomes from government public land decisions (e.g. regional forest assessments)
- proposals endorsed through a government cabinet decision-making process
- proposals that have agreement between ministers (noting consultations with other agencies not subject to the agreement may still be required).
Consultation with the NSW Minerals Council
The NSW Minerals Council is the leading industry association representing the state’s minerals industry.
Under the protocols set up for the reserve referral process, the NSW Minerals Council is provided with the opportunity to comment on proposals which would create a new (or stand-alone) park or reserve. This consultation occurs in the period after land has been acquired and before reservation.
Consultation with other non-government stakeholders varies on a case-by-case basis. For example, consultation might occur with the proponents of proposed public land transfers to the national parks system.