Australia's national parks are set to receive a much-needed boost, with the upcoming federal budget set to provide over $250 million in extra funding. 

The additional funding comes after years of neglect and “chronic underfunding”, according to Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek's office.

The funding will be divided among the country's national parks, including Booderee in the Jervis Bay Territory and the Australian National Botanic Gardens in Canberra. 

However, much of the funding will be used for urgent repairs in Kakadu, with over $200 million already pledged for the park.

Kakadu and Uluru-Kata Tjuta in the Northern Territory are two of the national parks set to benefit from the funding. 

According to Plibersek, these natural treasures should be a source of national pride, but instead, they are falling apart. 

At Kakadu, reports say the Jim Jim ranger station roof is peeling off, and there are broken or missing crocodile warning signs in the park. At Uluru-Kata Tjuta National Park, roofing is allegedly falling apart on shelters designed to provide shade and protection from the harsh desert heat, and housing for staff is inadequate.

The government’s neglect of the national parks could have contributed to two of Australia's most recent extinctions, the Christmas Island pipistrelle and the Christmas Island forest skink, both of which were formally listed as extinct in 2021. 

The Commonwealth has been accused of waiting too long to roll out more than $200 million in separate funds promised by both the Coalition and Labor during the 2019 federal election.

Successive federal governments have long been accused by traditional owners and tourism officials of neglecting Kakadu. 

Recent years have seen populations of feral animals balloon, and road infrastructure, offices and tourism site structures left to languish. Parks Australia confirmed feral pig numbers had doubled to around 70,000 in Kakadu since 2019, and that along with buffaloes and horses, the population was causing vast damage to wildlife.

The new funding could create up to 110 jobs during the upgrades.