News
16 June, 2026
Petition calls for creation of new national park
Local residents are being urged to throw their support behind plans for a new Southern Highlands – Wollondilly National Park by signing a petition to be presented to NSW Parliament.
Local residents are being urged to throw their support behind plans for a new Southern Highlands – Wollondilly National Park by signing a petition to be presented to NSW Parliament.
The ePetition – which went live on the NSW Parliament website yesterday (Monday) – calls on the NSW Government to establish a new national park encompassing existing National Park lands and Crown lands around Bargo Gorge in the north and south towards Mt Alexandra and the Morton National Park.
It also calls on Government to affirm that the proposal for a new Southern Highlands – Wollondilly National Park meets National Parks and Wildlife Service (NPWS) acquisition criteria, “including vision to improve the comprehensiveness, catchment, ecosystem function and landscape connectivity” across the Wollondilly electorate.
The petition was lodged by executive chairman of the Southern Highlands Wildlife Sanctuary Peter Lewis and will close on September 7 this year.
It will need 20,000 signatures before it can be presented to parliament.
Member for Wollondilly Judy Hannan has been leading the call for a new national park bringing together several pieces of adjoining and adjacent pieces of land overseen by different government agencies.
She has said there would be no cost to the Government in declaring a new national park because most of the lands were Crown lands and any additional expenditure would be optional.
Mrs Hannan took to Facebook on Monday to encourage people to sign the petition and “to help protect this special place forever from logging and mining”.
“A Southern Highlands National Park would protect our wildlife corridors and Aboriginal cultural sites and give our struggling koala population a real chance to recover,” Mrs Hannan said.
In a debate in Parliament earlier this month on the proposed creation of a Great Koala National Park on the state’s Mid North Coast, Mrs Hannan said koalas across the Macarthur region, Wollondilly and the Southern Highlands deserved the same level of protection.
“The conservation of healthy koalas in southern New South Wales should not be considered less important or less great,” she said.
Mrs Hannan said every koala population deserved a future.
“Conservation should not be determined by geography.
“Every significant koala population deserves protection wherever significant populations survive and thrive.”
Mrs Hannan said the question was not whether the Government could afford to create a new national park in the south – it was a question of “whether we can afford not to”.
“If we act now, we have the opportunity to create a lasting legacy that protects koalas, strengthens biodiversity, supports community conservation efforts and demonstrates that New South Wales is committed to saving all of its natural treasures”.
To sign the ePetition, go to: LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY - Signing ePetition - Establish the Southern Highlands - Wollondilly National Park
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