Originally published:1994 as Department of Financial and Business Systems by New Zealand Ministry of Tourism and available at http://hdl.handle.net/10182/4918
A very large proportion of New Zealand's land area is reserved for conservation and recreation purposes. The Department of Conservation claims responsibility for the management of thirty percent of New Zealand land. Entry to this land is regarded as free - there are no entry charges. A system which provides for free entry
may superficially sound to be equitable, but care needs be taken to specify just what
is meant by 'fair.' The approach taken in this essay is an application of the 'benefit
principle' - the people who benefit from actions should contribute towards their
costs. This essay contends that users of natural areas such as National Parks should
contribute directly toward the costs of operating the parks, and non users of parks
are unfairly treated by the absence of charges for use of parks. The argument that free
entry can be inequitable may be highlighted when the major sources of users of
these areas are considered. Rapidly increasing numbers of overseas tourists are now major users of some of New Zealand's most popular natural areas.[Show full abstract]
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