GG 45/12
17 August 2012
Special Minister of State Gary Gray said today the Australian Government remained committed to transferring a parcel of approximately 50 hectares on the Malabar Headland to the NSW Government for use as a national park.
He was commenting after the Commonwealth lodged an appeal in the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a Supreme Court decision delivered last month in Sydney. In that decision, the Supreme Court ruled that the Government was not entitled to terminate its deed of licence with the NSW Rifle Association and it was not permitted to transfer the land at Malabar unless it ensured that the NSWRA could continue to occupy the land and buildings following transfer.
"The Australian Government will continue to work to preserve the entire Malabar Headland as national park and public open space in perpetuity, Mr Gray said.
"Our intention remains to create, 12km south east of Sydney, a beautiful new coastal park for permanent public use. I am keen that the intended transfer of Lot 2, which is approximately 50 hectares of land on the eastern and southern edge of the headland, goes ahead in a timely fashion. This area is already zoned as national park but not yet declared for that use."
On March 2, 2012, the Australian Government officially transferred the first parcel of the headland to the NSW Government for use as national park. This transfer of 17.7 hectares of heritage-listed bushland was widely welcomed.
The government announced its plans to create the coastal national park in August 2010.
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