Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I know you were, but you were uninvited then; I am giving you an official invitation. For the Basalt to Bay project they want to put shelter belts through some of the best agricultural land in this country to make sure that it continues to be productive. They need help in making sure that, when they put these shelter belts in, they have the people on the ground there to do it. When we announced our Green Army project and showed that it could work with Landcare, Landcare was incredibly excited. I would say to the shadow agricultural minister, 'Come down, meet with the group and I will explain to you how the Green Army will help Landcare.' The environment minister has set about making sure that everything we do in this natural resource management space works together—he has tied in the protection of whales into coastal care. When you come down, shadow agriculture minister, you can do a bit of whale watching and see what we are doing to preserve whale breeding. We might be able to take you out to show them, but we will not get too close. This is good, sensible policy making.

What does Landcare do? It makes sure we have very good waterways and good coastal environment. It restores native vegetation and wildlife habitats and, more recently, it also protects our urban environment. One of the initiatives of this government—which I know the members for Higgins and Kooyong were very keen on—was to ensure proper protection for the Yarra River, and a measure in this year's budget will take care of that. In this 25th anniversary year of Landcare, I once again call for bipartisanship to ensure that everyone recognises the terrific work that Landcare does and the way it adds to our environmental heritage and protection and the way it delivers on the ground for local communities. That is what this government is all about—ensuring that on-the-ground management in our local communities occurs. There is $2 billion overall for national resource management in this budget. It is to be commended.

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