Are you prepared to pay?

Pandy said :

I think Stanhope should be talking to the Canberra Bushwalkers and National Parks Association about this.

What??? Consult???

Stanhope is confused. There is already a permit system for camping overnight in the park and the use of particular camp sites.

Many walkers beat make their own tracks and do not use any particular fire trail. They might park at a designated spot and then venture out from there. But there is no trail managed by the rangers as such, just a rut in the grass at best.

I also hear he has modelled the concept on the great walks in NZ and says he will place donation boxes at the beginiing and the end of the trail. But Stanhope, the parks in NZ are free and you pay a permit to camp and use the huts overnight.

Frankly the cost to collect the money each night will far outstrip what is raked in.

Plus what guarantee is there that the money collected will be used to fix/clear/create walking tracks?

I think Stanhope should be talking to the Canberra Bushwalkers and National Parks Association about this.

Could be a good concept but…

How long will it be before the knuckleheads break in to the boxes ?
Will the overhead of emptying out the boxes on a regular basis be covered by the income ?

The community subsidises many activities that the majority of people do not participate in. Varoius sports, cultural events and arts are some examples. Bushwalking and enjoying nature reserves are no different. I support a sensible compulsory co-payment that all who want to participate can afford and can be easily collected. This is not one of these instances.

Overheard said :

You’d be surprised how much you can raise from a gold coin donation policy. Talk to a few places that do it. It’s a different beast to voluntary school fees. Altogether.

Have a word to the mob that collect 20c from the markets at Jammo on Sundays. Rotary? I know on the few times I went through, I threw in much more than 20c.

But god love us, we’re all different, and there is a selection of the community that read ‘voluntary donation’ to mean ‘free’. And sometimes, they don’t have the wherewithal to make that donation. If they really want to attend/be involved/etc. I’d much rather welcome those people in rather than turn them away for the sake of a buck.

Interesting perspective.

When I was a kid, we used to be ‘asked’ to take books of raffle tickets to sell as fund raising for the school. I was usually the only kid who requested NOT to take tickets. Why? Well, my family wasn’t very well off, and my mother felt guilty about asking friends and neighbours to buy tickets (we lived in a poorer part of town when I was young), and therefore bought them herself, just to get rid of them. I knew we weren’t well off, and so I felt guilty taking the tickets knowing my family would have to buy them.

Despite growing up to be financially comfortable, I still feel a bit strange when I see kids with raffle tickets, and remember the old feelings. As far as ‘voluntary contributions’ go, my first reaction is still ‘hell no’, and I have to think for a minute to say ‘yes’.

Quick question (and related to the topic) – where’s the best picnic spot in Namadgi?

Getting somewhat back on topic.

Many, many years ago (pre-self Govt.), all the BBQs that you find in various parks and places around town used to be coin operated (20 cents iirc). But of course these were frequently damaged and destroyed by folk attempting to retrieve those princely sums. Then someone realised that the cost of repairing the frequently damaged mechanisms far outweighed the amounts collected. And in a fit of competence not often seen in govt, decided it was better to simply make them free.

I suspect that if this plan proceeds, then like the newly reintroduced fees at Tidbinbilla, the cost of collection will be greater than the fees collected.

Punkarella: they are tax analyses to answer questions about relative levels of taxation as proportions of, for example, GDP or of average wages.

This might give you more info.

They do not address comparative wealth, comparative cost of living, total cost of government, efficiency of government services, efficiency of private services, etc.

Is there a particular question you had in mind?

With parks, I think a combination of public and private income is right. The existence of parks and reserves achieves a lot of things for society as a whole, independent of whether any particular individual visits them. But some kinds of visitation infrastructure — eg roads, bushwalking tracks in highly sensitive areas — are expenses which exist only because a relative few use them. They should contribute some direct costs back.

So, for example, I think a fee to walk the popular and maintained tracks in Tasmania is valid; as is a fee to meet some of the costs of maintaining ski infrastructure and habitat protection in the snowies.

But the general utility of having parks, and having them looked after, should come from my taxes along with everyone else’s.

I’d put my dollar in the tin at the trailhead.

You’d be surprised how much you can raise from a gold coin donation policy. Talk to a few places that do it. It’s a different beast to voluntary school fees. Altogether.

Have a word to the mob that collect 20c from the markets at Jammo on Sundays. Rotary? I know on the few times I went through, I threw in much more than 20c.

But god love us, we’re all different, and there is a selection of the community that read ‘voluntary donation’ to mean ‘free’. And sometimes, they don’t have the wherewithal to make that donation. If they really want to attend/be involved/etc. I’d much rather welcome those people in rather than turn them away for the sake of a buck.

Do they factor local government taxes as well into those reports, things like rates average price of water and power…?
What about average cost of fuel and basic food stuffs oh and interest rates, wage comparisions, cost of living and all that?