Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I appreciate the opportunity to update the House this morning on activities within my electorate to protect and enhance the environment of the Gippsland Lakes. I have spoken several times about the importance of the Gippsland Lakes and its catchment areas in terms of the environmental, social, cultural and economic life of my region. I deliberately mention the word 'cultural' because there is a long Indigenous heritage associated with the Gippsland Lakes. They are very productive, with an abundance of bird, animal and fish life which supported Indigenous communities for thousands of years. The European heritage has continued in that vein, so we have very strong cultural links to the lake and river systems.

However, I do remain critical of the federal government's attitude to the Gippsland Lakes. I am disappointed that these Ramsar listed wetlands do not receive the level of recognition they deserve by the current government. There is no ongoing funding for practical environmental works and no commitment to working in partnership with the state government, which is leading the way through the formation of the $10 million Gippsland Lakes Environmental Fund. For the benefit of the House, I want to provide a bit of background on that fund. It came about during the 2010 state election campaign, when I strongly supported the Nationals candidate, Tim Bull. As a fourth-generation East Gippslander with a family history steeped in the marine industry, Tim is as passionate about the Gippsland Lakes as I am. Together, we developed a policy to secure a state government funding commitment and it has led to the development of the environmental fund under the stewardship of the Gippsland Lakes Ministerial Advisory Committee.

Recently I attended the launch of the committee, where its first eight projects were outlined. The projects include: $30,000 to evaluate the economic and community impact of the algal bloom; funding of $160,000 to support a range of care groups to enhance the biodiversity of the Gippsland Lakes; $137,000 for nutrient reduction in the upper Gippsland Lakes catchment; $120,000 for Latrobe Estuary and wetlands restoration; $150,000 for the meander restoration of the lower Latrobe River; $80,000 for engaging the Gippsland Lakes community; $44,000 for landholders' fencing and revegetating; and $126,000 for monitoring the environmental health of the Gippsland Lakes.

That is a great start and I commend the committee on its work under the leadership of its chair, Dr Peter Veenker, and for the way it has undertaken its task. An outstanding committee of people has been assembled. They are passionate about the lakes and have direct local experience in diverse industries such as tourism, fishing, local government and some of the key state government agencies. I look forward to working very closely with this committee in the years ahead and doing everything in my power to help it secure federal funding to leverage off the substantial state government commitment that has been made. We all know it makes sense to combine our resources wherever possible to have all levels of government working closely with groups like Landcare and the Friends of the Gippsland Lakes to achieve practical environmental outcomes to safeguard this magnificent lake and river system for the enjoyment of future generations.

As a local member of parliament, I am very keen to build ownership of the lakes within the community and to give local residents a chance to help protect the system. That is why I organised a community action day in 2010 and that is why I am planning another event, on 25 November this year. It is a chance for everyone who loves the magnificent Gippsland Lakes and cares about the future of the system and its rivers to join in and help make a difference. There is, unfortunately, a lot of rubbish which has been blown up by the wind or washed off streets or dropped from boats and collected by tides on the foreshore around the lake system. We will be targeting a few of the highly visited locations around the lakes—towns like Lakes Entrance, Paynesville, Metung, Raymond Island and Eagle Point—and we will be hoping to do a clean-up along the banks of the Mitchell and Tambo rivers.

As much as most locals and visitors care about the environment and do the right thing when they visit our waterways, there are some people who show a complete disregard for the environment. I have been appalled, quite frankly, by some of the rubbish that has been left behind by a small minority of recreational anglers who lack the intelligence to understand that damaging the environment will actually damage the resource that they have come to enjoy. I know we should not have to clean up after them, but these are irresponsible people and it is a fact of life that there is a mess left behind and it leaves a very poor impression when we are trying to attract visitors to our region and to showcase the beautiful environment of our rivers and lakes system.

The community action day on 25 November this year will be a chance for everyone to show their support for the lakes. I will be inviting local people to nominate their own clean-up sites in the weeks leading up to the day, and those sites will be targeted by the volunteers that we assemble on the day. We will be encouraging people to register for the clean-up and we will be allocating some areas for them to work on. Hopefully, at the end of it all, we will have done a good job in cleaning up some of these high profile locations and we will also have a bit of fun at the end of it with a community barbeque. It should be an enjoyable day as well as a very productive day.

The community action day will be an opportunity for people who love the lakes to help improve the environment through direct action. I am looking forward to working with my community in the weeks ahead to make sure it is a great success.