In short:
The NSW government has purchased another outback station in the state’s far west, adding to the growing portfolio of future national parks.
The latest site has an ancient Aboriginal birthing cave.
What’s next?
The NSW environment minister says there needs to be greater investment in national parks staff.
In 1992, Dot Stephens and a small group of local indigenous people visited a sacred Aboriginal birthing site at a grazing property east of Broken Hill.
More than three decades on, the NSW government has acquired Broughton Vale Station, where the site is located, and is planning to turn it into a national park.
The site was visited by explorers Burke and Wills during their 1860 expedition from Melbourne to the Gulf of Carpentaria.
Ms Stephens, a Barkindji elder, said she never thought she would live to see the purchase and ongoing protection and restoration of the birthing site.
“I cried … it’s wonderful, [I’m] over the moon,” she said.
“It’s great news that we’ve got it handed back to us because it’s very significant to a lot of Aboriginal people within the western region and Barkindji Country.”
New South Wales Environment Minister Penny Sharpe said Burkes Caves, or Kukirrka, was a “very significant” historical site that was used for more than 2,000 years.
Ms Stephens said she was looking forward to taking her nieces and nephews to the site — allowing the boys to visit the sacred men’s site and the girls to the birthing cave.
“Connecting all Aboriginal people back to country would be great, and they could just go out there and have a look,” she said.
Pastoralists’ concerns
Broughton Vale’s 31,500 hectares is located opposite the 60,000 hectare Langidoon-Metford State Conservation Area, which was purchased by the NSW government in May 2021 to protect biodiversity and Aboriginal heritage.
“In the far west of NSW there are just all of these very unique areas that have not been protected under the national parks estate,” Ms Sharpe said.
There have been more than a dozen station sales since 2021 under the government’s plan to expand biodiversity and ecosystem representation in the state’s west.
Pastoralists across far west NSW have questioned pest management plans and succession planning for generations of graziers.
Pastoralists Association of West Darling president, Terry Smith, said he wanted a moratorium on the purchase of stations until the state government conducted a cost-benefit analysis.
“We’d like the government to have a bit more of a look at what these purchases are doing,” he said.
“Every working livestock business that’s shut down for a national park takes away … the shearers and stockman, musters … it makes it harder to retain those people in the industry.”
The advocacy group would also like to see upgrades to infrastructure to the existing parks, including sealing roads and telecommunications to make them more tourist friendly.
Pastoralists have told ABC their concerns about support and if there were plans to increase funding for the National Parks and Wildlife Service in line with the acquisition of the outback stations.
The environment minister would not confirm whether there were more sales planned, or if there would be greater funding.
“We’re always making sure that they’re resourced properly, that they’ve got the visitor infrastructure that we want, that we’ve got the fire trails and management that we absolutely need and that we’re dealing with invasive species,” Ms Sharpe said.
“That’s part of the ongoing work with parks, they do a terrific job and we’ll continue to support them to do that.”
Ms Sharpe met with pastoralists last year and said land management was discussed.
“There will be a significant program around feral animals, looking at fencing … as the park [Broughton Vale] comes online in the future,” she said.