Jill Hall (Shortland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to put it on record that the Rudd government is highly supportive of Landcare. This can be seen by funding commitments to the program through this parliament and through this government. Those on the other side of this House tend to be totally negative about any support given by the government to organisations such as Landcare.

I am a long-term supporter of Landcare. Landcare plays a very important role in the electorate I represent in this parliament. The Shortland electorate is very environmentally sensitive. It is situated between the ocean and a series of lakes. In the electorate, and in the whole of Lake Macquarie for that matter, we have enormous and longstanding commitments made by Landcare groups. In fact, I am so committed to Landcare that I am a member of the Lake Macquarie Landcare public funding management committee, which meets regularly to organise funding and support for Landcare groups throughout Lake Macquarie.

I will share with you some of the fine work that is done by Landcare groups in the Shortland electorate. The first point is that the financial contribution made by volunteers through Landcare in the previous year came to about $3.6 million—that is in volunteer hours given by people. It is all about people taking pride in their community. It is all about people taking pride in the environment. Landcare plays a very important role, not only in bush areas but also in areas like the Shortland electorate. Landcare is fundamentally a grassroots volunteer movement supported by all three levels of government and the corporate sector in partnership with the community, to facilitate community stewardship of their own environment. So it is a whole-of-community grassroots organisation. Landcarers have a passion for seeing that our natural environment is managed so that it will be there for future generations to enjoy and to benefit from. Landcare volunteers are people from all walks of life.

I recently had an afternoon tea for seniors in the Shortland electorate—and I am sure other members did a similar thing—where seniors were presented with certificates for their contributions to our community. At that particular ceremony there were a number of volunteers that worked with Landcare groups. Valentine Landcare group was represented, along with Galgabba Landcare group. Landcare has been classified into six different areas: wetland sites, riparian sites, coastal sites, rainforest sites, bushland sites and foreshore sites. That is the way we do it in Lake Macquarie.

In the few moments that I have remaining I want to run through some of the quality Landcare groups within my electorate for the benefit of the parliament. There is the Belmont Wetlands group, the Black Ned’s Bay Rejuvenation group, the Jewells group, the Pelican Blacksmith group, the Salts Bay group, the Warners Bay group, the Redhead Bluff group, and the Floraville Gully Ridge and Rainforest group. I will make special reference to this group because it works in conjunction with the Floraville Public School and provides a wonderful learning environment for so many of the young people who are associated with that school. It gives them the ability to be involved in the long-term care and appreciation of their environment and that is reflected in the fact that they have won the Sydney Morning Herald environmental award on a number of occasions. (Time expired)

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