Disgusting!
They haven't rated much of a mention, but, just so we are all aware, there is actually an existing guided walk industry on this track and has been for several decades.
Another angle on this is the slow burn-off of these companies in favour of these new proposals. I can guarantee if any government had injected anything like that sort of funding into the existing industry (ie. on support, on the track and on
public facilities) their return would have been comparable. And most importantly for WHA, the impact minimal.
On some tracks there would be an initial boost to the camp based tours from such a proposal, on this track the proposal shortens the itinerary to a point where I doubt there will be any net benefit.
And as we see, when these greedy characters get their windfall, and without mentioning the less obvious day-to-day influence they are afforded over and to keep down their camping opposition, they then continue the grant-mining to attempt to take that remaining business as well, such as this on The Overland Track:
Or such as that same company's spread to Frenchman's or WoJ and everything that implies for remaining scramble to support a growing number* of slowly failing business elsewhere and at the ultimate expense to public places for those prepared to camp (and a continual lobbying to keep public facilities minimal).
Of course, the alternative will be for these pioneering companies to spread to tracks, and routes that currently get very little commercial tourism. And it doesn't take a lot of imagination to expect just who will then follow.
* 'Growing' as, at the other end of this 're-imagining', this government has seen fit to allow open slather new small business entrants concessions to try their luck.