Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to highlight the Victorian Labor government’s complete contempt for the people of Gippsland and to appeal to the federal Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts to take action to protect the environmental health of the Gippsland Lakes. Last month, the state Labor government announced that it would take another 10 billion litres of water per year from the Thomson River to water the gardens of Melbourne. I believe Melbourne Labor MPs are playing Russian roulette with the environmental health of the Gippsland Lakes as there have been several reports which have indicated the Gippsland Lakes are at an ecological tipping point and the further reduction in freshwater flows, particularly at the western end of the catchment, could prove disastrous.

We have already witnessed many signs of a system under stress. There are major problems with salinity in the western end of the catchment and diverting more fresh water will add to the pressure on the environment. The health of the Gippsland Lakes is fundamental to the $200 million tourism industry and the government knows this decision will have a significant negative impact on a variety of species throughout the catchment.

In 2006, the former state environment minister, John Thwaites, recognised all of these concerns when he proudly boasted about returning environmental flows to the Thomson River. In a media release on 3 October 2006, Mr Thwaites said environmental flows were being returned to the stressed Thomson River in Gippsland, ‘which will also help the health of the Gippsland Lakes, which are so economically, socially and environmentally important for the region’. It is one thing to do the wrong thing in ignorance; it is an entirely different matter to commit an act of environmental vandalism with full knowledge of the likely consequences.

When will someone in Melbourne Labor realise that there is not a bottomless bucket in Gippsland for the city to keep taking water? When will Melbourne get fair dinkum about water recycling, stormwater harvesting and upgrading leaking infrastructure? The decision to take extra water also follows the Labor party’s failure to provide any ongoing funding for the Gippsland Lakes Taskforce in this year’s state budget. Gippslanders will not lie down and accept these appalling decisions.

A newsletter that I recently distributed in the electorate of Gippsland invited people to have their say on this issue and to date 1,600 people have written to me and expressed their concerns. I have also written to the federal Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts and sought his intervention in this issue. In my letter, I highlighted the importance of the Gippsland Lakes. The Gippsland Lakes and wetlands are recognised under the Ramsar convention and the entire catchment is experiencing stress related to the ongoing drought and a range of settlement activities.

There have also been media reports suggesting that threatened fish species such as the grayling would be endangered by the removal of more water from the Thomson River. The Gippsland Lakes have experienced frequent algal blooms and have been the subject of significant investigation by the CSIRO, resulting in a concerted effort to improve water quality and reduce the amount of nutrients entering the system. Indeed, the federal government, to its credit, has made a financial commitment of $3 million over three years to tackle some of these tasks. What a ridiculous situation we find ourselves in where the federal government is spending $3 million—which is nowhere near enough in any case, and I have raised those points with the minister—to improve water quality while the state Labor government is ripping another 10 billion litres of fresh water out of the system.

Given that the state government’s decision is likely to have a significant impact on the environment of the Gippsland Lakes and catchment, I am seeking assistance from the minister to discharge the federal government’s responsibilities in this matter. I would like to know whether the minister will intervene under the Environmental Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The minister has written to me on other issues relating to the Gippsland Lakes. In his letter, which I stress was not directly in relation to the Thomson issue but a related Gippsland Lakes matter, the minister wrote:

Matters of national environmental significance include the ecological character of a wetland listed under the Ramsar convention. In considering the impacts of any actions on the ecological character of Ramsar wetlands, consideration is given to indirect impacts, such as catchment related impacts, as well as those which are caused directly within the wetland boundary.

I am waiting for the minister’s response regarding the Thomson issue in particular but the EPBC Significant Impact Guidelines provided to my office by the minister indicate that an action will require approval from the minister if the action has, will have, or is likely to have, a significant impact on a matter of national environmental significance.

The activity in this case is removing an additional 10 billion litres of fresh water and environmental flows which, I contend—and the CSIRO has previously stated—is likely to have a significant impact on the future of the Gippsland Lakes and its Ramsar-listed wetlands, not to mention the potential impact on an endangered species. I call on the minister to investigate this decision by the state Labor government to assess whether approval should be sought from the Commonwealth under the EPBC. A total of 1,600 Gippslanders have already raised their concerns. I hope the minister is prepared to listen and take action to help protect the largest inland waterway in the southern hemisphere and its catchment areas.

In closing, the minister certainly has not heard the last of this matter. I have been supporting a petition, with my state parliamentary colleagues, which is available on my website and will also be distributed throughout the region. I will continue to fight to protect our waterways and the future health of the Gippsland Lakes and I encourage local residents to support my campaign in the weeks ahead. Gippslanders are very passionate about the environment of our local waterways and they are passionate about the future of the Gippsland Lakes. They know when they are getting a raw deal.

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