Outback stations acquired by NSW Government for expansion of national park estate

The NSW Government is massively expanding its national park estate with the purchase of two properties in the west of the state.

The second-largest property purchase in NSW National Parks history, the Avenel/Mt Westwood station near Broken Hill and Koonaburra station near Ivanhoe have been acquired, adding a combined 166,924 hectares.

The two recently purchased properties, which contain rare and endangered flora and fauna, mean that the NSW Government has added 520,000 hectares to its national park estate since August 2019.

Advising that state's far west had been area of need for the National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS), NSW Environment Minister, Matt Kean stated “we are really under-represented in our national parks estate of some very important ecosystems in western NSW.

Avenel Station, which encompasses a collective group of properties (Avenel, Mount Westwood, Teilta and Joulnie) are part of the Simpson Strzelecki Dunefields, which houses important flora and fauna in the region.

Here, Minister Kean noted “they're really important as they serve to provide habitat for at least 30 threatened species.”

He went on to explain “in just over two years we have added over half a million hectares to our park estate, smashing target after target and securing precious habitat and biodiversity for future generations.

“This latest expansion will conserve significant areas of critically important habitat types in western NSW that are not currently protected in the park estate.”

Both properties are significant in size, with the 121,390 hectare Avenel/Mt Westwood Station the second largest purchase by NPWS in the state’s history.

Avenel/Mt Westwood Station, a remote and ecologically diverse landscape on the South Australian border, features spectacular dune fields of the Strzelecki desert transitioning to the rocky plateau of the Barrier Range, with a network of river red gum and coolabah fringed rivers, creeks and watercourses.

The property also supports habitat for an estimated 30 threatened plant and animal species including the Australian bustard and the dusky hopping mouse.

Koonaburra station, will add a further 45,534 hectares including an extensive area of sandplain and dune field country featuring a vast network of water depressions (‘melon holes’) providing important water sources for many species. It also supports habitat for at least 20 threatened animal species including the Major Mitchell cockatoo, Mallee fowl and the fat-tailed dunnart.

The NPWS is currently delivering the biggest investment in visitor infrastructure in national park history and this program will be extended to both Avenel and Koonaburra, ensuring both properties become ‘must see destinations’ for the millions who visit our national parks every year.

NPWS Deputy Secretary, Atticus Fleming believes the recent purchases of Narrieara, Metford and Langidoon Stations, along with these new acquisitions would future-proof these habitats for future generations to enjoy.

Fleming explained "with the addition of Narrieara, up near Sturt National Park recently, and other parks near Broken Hill, I think we're developing a great little outback circuit where we can go up into the corner and visit Narrieara, and visit Sturt, and come back down through Avenel and Mount Westwood and end up in Broken Hill

"If we're going to protect our biodiversity, if we're going to turn back the sort of tide of extinctions of biodiversity decline in Australia then national parks are the key to doing that and I think these two properties will become jewels in the Western NSW national park crown."

The NSW Government is understood to have paid tens of millions of dollars for the stations with local grazing families reporting that these significant purchases will impact succession planning for surrounding properties in the region.

There have also been suggestions that the NSW Government has overpaid for land that, as a result of climate change, is no longer viable for grazing.

Images: Sunrise at the Avenel/Mt Westwood station (top, credit: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment), the Koonaburra station (middle, credit: NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment) and the kultarr is listed as endangered by the Office of Environment and Heritage (credit: James Val/NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment).