New National Park at Vergemont

• Negotiations to create a new western Queensland national park on Vergemont Station have been finalised.
• The proposed 300,000 hectare national park will increase protections for unique habitat, rare and threatened species and the area’s significant Indigenous cultural heritage.
• The Crisafulli Government is delivering on its plan for Queensland’s environment, while boosting visitation to western Queensland.

Negotiations to create a new western Queensland national park on Vergemont Station have been finalised, marking a major milestone in the Crisafulli Government’s plan to expand Queensland’s protected areas.

The proposed 300,000-hectare national park will safeguard unique habitats, rare and threatened species, and significant Indigenous cultural heritage while boosting visitation and economic opportunities in western Queensland.

Vergemont Station is home to rare vegetation communities, as well as large areas of the headwaters of the Lake Eyre Basin in Queensland.

The historic deal will secure habitat for rare and threatened species such as the critically endangered night parrot, the near threatened Opalton grasswren and the vulnerable purple-necked rock wallaby.

The proposed new national park will form part of a 1.5 million-hectare protected area corridor, linking Astrebla Downs National Park, Diamantina National Park, Mount Windsor Nature Refuge, Pullen Pullen Special Wildlife Reserve and Goneaway National Park.

Minister for the Environment and Tourism Andrew Powell said the Crisafulli Government was committed to delivering more for Queensland’s environment and regional communities.

“This agreement is part of our commitment to add 1.8 million hectares to the state’s protected areas by 2028,” Minister Powell said.

“We’re protecting the places that make Queensland special while creating jobs and opportunities in the communities that call them home.”

“The proposed new national park will safeguard the significant ecological values of the unique landscape.”

The Nature Conservancy’s Senior Advisor, Global Protection Strategies, Dr James Fitzsimons said the Vergemont landscape was nationally significant, and it will be protected forever.

“This outcome highlights the power of leveraged gifts, enabling philanthropists and governments alike to achieve outcomes far beyond what is possible alone,” Dr Fitzsimons said.

“This model will be essential if Australia is to achieve its target of protecting 30 per cent of its lands by 2030.”

The Queensland Government purchased Vergemont Station in partnership with The Nature Conservancy, which brokered Australia’s largest ever philanthropic donation for the purchase of land for conservation.

ENDS

MEDIA CONTACT: Dani Sharp, 0436 357 712