“Not only is Toorale home to one of Australia’s largest flood plain grazing operations, these banks, over the past 100 years, have built a lignum based wetland area of over 12,146 hectares of Warrego country,” Mr Humphries said.

“This panic buy, and the inevitable destruction of this unique and cultural infrastructure, places the bulk of this wetland at risk.”

Mr Humphries said this was further evidence that the NSW Government had little understanding of what it had bought.

“What you see from the air and what in fact happens on the ground in this part of the world is very different – you cannot tell how deep a dam is from the air.”

Mr Humphries said you could walk across most of Toorale’s water storage,“if you can fight your way past the bird life”.

“No on-ground due diligence, no sight inspection, no understanding of water storage and the dynamic of the Warrego through this property will create more dilemmas than solve problems for both State and Federal Government,” Mr Humphries said.

“To help patch up a poor decision making process, the community is calling on the NSW State Government to maintain Toorale as a working pastoral operation and conservation haven for existing native flora and fauna.”

Mr Humphries said this is consistent with the role of the public reserve system in one of the three aims, ‘To protect areas of significant and working heritage’, as quoted in the NSW National Parks Establishment Plan 2008.

“All the community needs to be involved in the future of Toorale, with additional community expectations that the property will be home to an extensive rural skills and training centre,” he said.

“The Government needs to pay more than lip service to the community of Bourke – no amount of spin or consultants reports will alleviate the pain and lost opportunity this community is experiencing.”