Michelle Rowland (Greenway, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take this opportunity to speak on this private member's motion that calls on the government to implement coalition pre-election policy and to work with the New South Wales government on a number of specified matters with the objective, one would think, of making some positive contribution to the natural environment of Western Sydney.

Firstly, I want to point out that the preservation and enjoyment of the remaining Cumberland Plain Woodlands have long been a Labor priority, as was eloquently pointed out by the member for Parramatta, and one of deep policy importance to me. More relevantly, it is a priority that has been backed up by decades of policy in action at a local level, including by Blacktown City Council, informed by local advisory groups and scores of conservation volunteers. This long history of environmental sustainability puts to rest any ill-informed assumptions that residents in Western Sydney care little for their natural environment. To the contrary, there are parts of Blacktown City that contain some of the last remaining areas of the Cumberland Plain Woodlands. In one of the fastest developing urban landscapes in Australia, where one can stand in paddocks that until recently contained cattle and horses, you can literally see the edge of metropolitan Sydney under construction. With this development comes not only residential dwellings but recreational and other needs, such as schools and community facilities.

As someone who has long been involved in local government, I have witnessed firsthand the inevitable tensions that arise in the context of rapid urban development and the achievement of local environment sustainability frameworks, and I could name many individual instances. There can be no argument that the recognition and preservation of those rare ecological communities must be implemented in a way that achieves long-term results and that our investments must continue to be tied to such goals. Speaking of long-term results, I want to highlight the Greening Blacktown program, which was designed to preserve as much of the existing established tree stock as is practicable and has resulted in the city enjoying a distinctive green canopy, visible from nearly every vantage point. It was groundbreaking for its day and it too does not operate without criticism. While a councillor I regularly took complaints from residents who objected to the requirements of tree preservation orders under the Blacktown Local Environmental Plan, which requires council approval to remove or prune any live tree which falls within the scope of the order. This was designed to achieve a balance for what was, even when it was first instigated, one of the fastest growing areas of Australia and a city which is now home to figures approaching one in every 70 Australians.

Secondly, I want to point out the policy in action which is being demonstrated by innovative programs such as Regenesis, which both I and the member for Chifley have mentioned in this place. I have long believed in the paramount importance of community-owned environmental initiatives. That is what makes Regenesis so special. In partnership with Liverpool Plains Shire Council, the Regenesis program offsets local communities' carbon emissions through environmental restoration and tree planting. Regenesis is the first of its kind for local councils and has resulted in the planting of 33 forests in the Blacktown and Liverpool Plains regions—that is, 220,000 native plants and more than 100 hectares, grown according to the carbon-trading requirements established by the Kyoto protocol.

Finally, I want to mention the provisions of this motion that call for federal-state initiatives for a Western Sydney conservation corridor. Well, that is going to be a bit harder now since the New South Wales Liberal government has abolished its environment department by 'elevating' it to a mere division of the Department of Premier and Cabinet. Premier O'Farrell says this is not a downgrade. Let us tell that to Catherine Cusack, his former climate change spokesperson, who was dumped for not supporting the policies of the Shooters and Fishers Party on hunting in national parks.

There is clearly no intention by this Liberal government in New South Wales to prioritise the environment. Instead, it is plain to all that the environment, including any supposed consolidation of the Cumberland Conservation Corridor, will be compromised rather than prioritised. Does anyone seriously believe that a Liberal state government, which is prepared to trade off shooting in national parks, is going to engage in conservation in Western Sydney? I absolutely doubt that.

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