asked the Minister for Tourism, Fisheries and Forestry the amount of land which has been offered for sale to his Department in the past year; and if it is the policy of his Department to refuse such offers in all cases except where the land joins State forest lands.

In 1985 the Department received 868 offers of land amounting to a total of 15,734 hectares. It is not the policy of my Department to refuse offers of land which do not adjoin State forest lands. Each offer is treated on its merits.