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

I rise to highlight concerns within my electorate in relation to the federal government’s commitment to practical environmental work as carried out by organisations such as Landcare. The concerns relate to the government’s decision to cut the level of guaranteed funding to catchment management authorities and its failure to deliver on a promise of $3 million for water quality improvements in the Gippsland Lakes catchment. In my electorate, the decision to cut CMA funding has directly contributed to the number of Landcare staff within the West Gippsland CMA being slashed from nine to three. It makes no sense to cut funding to the very people who are coordinating volunteers—they are out there getting their hands dirty; they are doing the revegetation work, pest animal control, weed reduction and erosion management—but that is what is happening in Gippsland today.

The cuts to practical environmental programs are also having a very significant impact on small businesses such as the wholesale nursery industry. Nursery owners in my electorate, such as the Glengarry Plant Farm, are reporting a massive reduction in orders from groups such as Landcare, Greening Australia and the CMAs. These groups simply are not pre-ordering the same number of native trees for revegetation programs and streamside rehabilitation, because they have no idea whether they will have the funding to pay for the trees in the future.

Last week I attended a community forum in Bairnsdale where more than 200 people listened to highly qualified experts talk about the environmental challenges facing the Gippsland Lakes and catchment areas. The federal government promised $3 million for Gippsland Lakes catchment areas 12 months ago, and to this day not a single cent has been spent. I urge the federal government to get on with the job of investing in—(Time expired)