The Bill amends the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 to change the reservation status of certain land, to establish the National Parks and Wildlife Conservation Operating Fund and for other purposes; and amends the Heritage Act 1977 in relation to the Heritage Conservation Fund.

The Bill amends the National Parks and Wildlife Act 1974 (NPW Act) to revoke approximately 144 hectares of land from seven national parks and reserves in the NSW national park system.

The bill is designed to enable delivery of government infrastructure projects, improve boundaries with park neighbours and local councils, and clarify and update existing provisions.  

This document evaluates the Government's 'Statement of Public Interest (SPI)' that makes the case for legislative reform.

The assessment finds that the Government SPI is adequate. It finds that the Government SPI generally describes the need and objectives of the Bill, however, it could have been improved by including greater detail such as linking the objectives to specific public interest outcomes and supporting the argument for this legislative change with evidence of the problem with existing legislation. Whilst the Bill deals with a number of issues, and detailed discussion of each would not be practical to put into the SPI, there are areas where further detail could have improved this SPI.

Additionally, despite providing comprehensive justification and analysis for the chosen policy option, the Government SPI did not outline any alternate policy options considered in the drafting of the Bill. At minimum, an SPI should explicitly consider the base scenario of ‘no change’ in order to demonstrate the need for action as opposed to none.

Assessment: Adequate