The half of the ACT designated as national park should be opened up for greater recreational use, including driving, swimming, camping and potentially vermin hunting.
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That's the pitch from the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party, which is contesting the ACT election for the first time.
The party wants to see the gates through the Namadgi National Park unlocked to allow more vehicle access along designated fire trails.
The party has also flagged its interest in allowing recreational hunters to target invasive species, such as deer and wild pigs, in the parks, rather than relying on aerial baiting.
But experts say national park ecosystems have become more fragile in the past decade and a careful balance must be struck between public access and park management.
The lead Shooters, Fishers and Farmers candidate for Murrumbidgee, Gordon Yeatman, said the public should have a right to use the national park for recreation.
"Whose asset is it? Is it the national park's asset or is it our asset? If it's our asset, then we've got the right to use it. I'm not talking about abusing it," Mr Yeatman said.
"We want to protect it equally as much as national parks. Our constituents are the people who use it and we don't want to go in there and bump into other people's rubbish."
Mr Yeatman said park gates should not automatically be locked, and park users should be trusted with greater responsibility to manage their own safety.
"It's not asking the world to allow access to suitable vehicles at suitable times onto these roads that already exist. It doesn't seem like rocket science to me that that should just be allowed," he said.
Mr Yeatman said allowing people to collect dead wood from fire trails would help keep them clear and reduce the fuel load ahead of the bushfire season, while allowing fishing in the ACT's dams would promote tourism.
Vermin hunting in the ACT's national parks was also something the party was interested in exploring. Mr Yeatman said targeted shooting would be more humane than aerial baiting.
"You've got lots of animals that, when pushed, will eat [that poison]. So how they claim that 1080, a meat food for pigs to eat - the argument that other animals, Australian natives, won't eat it is nonsense," he said.
The party would also like to see gun suppressors made accessible to more firearm owners in the ACT, arguing they would limit noise pollution and make shooting a more accessible sport.
However, Professor Ross Thompson, the director of the Centre for Applied Water Science at the University of Canberra, said national park ecosystems had become less resilient in the past decade.
"The reality is that these are beautiful and special places, and we want people to be able to use them - they're part of the natural history and legacy of Australia. And then, it's a matter of balancing that desire to give people access with maintaining those ecosystems in a state you're still going to be able to see them in 100 years' time," Professor Thompson said.
Activities like horse trekking and four-wheel driving risked bringing invasive species, like Paterson's curse, into the parks in droppings or mud, he said.
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Professor Thompson said the summer bushfires had made the Namadgi National Park, in the south of the ACT, very fragile, with little vegetation to prevent erosion and an increased risk of weeds taking hold.
Private hunters being allowed to shoot vermin could be a cost-effective pest control method, Professor Thompson said.
"You can usually reduce the population somewhat with hunting but then there's no interest, obviously, from hunters in exterminating. And that's a worldwide tension between the use of hunting and private hunters in order to reduce densities of pest animals," he said.
Mr Yeatman said the ACT branch of the Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party was formed in March. The party is running candidates in Brindabella, Ginninderra and Murrumbidgee.
The NSW branch was founded by former journalist John Tingle in 1992 after the state introduced new gun ownership restrictions.
The party has five representatives in NSW state parliament. Three lower-house members represent regional electorates.
Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
