Long overdue....

[twinkles**stars]

LIGHTING up a cigarette in a national park in NSW is set to be outlawed as the State Government moves to stamp out a key cause of bushfires.

The ban will apply to picnic areas, campgrounds, beaches, lookouts and walking tracks in all 860 national parks, including the key tourist hotspot of Sydney Harbour National Park.

Motorists driving a through a national park will also be forced to stub out their cigarettes with the regulation also applying to local roads, although State and Federal roads are excluded.

The ban will only take effect from January 1 to allow for the implementation of a community education campaign before fines of $300 take effect.

Despite both fire authorities and the government acknowledging discarded cigarette butts contribute to the State’s bushfires, smoking has to date been permitted in all national parks.

[goldenjet16]

Gotcha.....

[boris1gary]

great response from a reader on the ABC site, couldn't have said it better

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-11-16/firefighters-still-battling-a-blaze-in-the-blue-mountains/5894...

I worked for NSWNPWS for 15 years, so I can say with some authority that this is just a headline grab by the Govt, and a brain fart by the Environment Minister trying to be seen to be doing something. Park Staff have an ever increasing workload dictated by continual cost cutting and Staff reductions. Who the hell is going to effectively enforce this ridiculous ban? By its very nature, people will be out in the "great outdoors" and tend to try & get away from other people so who/how can compliance be done. This is a stupid idea and a waste of time and a waste of space on here. If the Minister wants to REALLY do something positive to mitigate bushfire, a good start would be to adequately resource the Parks Service so they can carry out some decent fire management strategies.