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

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) Landcare is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year;

(b) the keystones of Landcare are that it is community owned and driven and bi-partisan in nature, and it encourages integrated management of environmental assets with productive farmland and a more sustainable approach to private land management; and

(c) 40 per cent of all farmers are involved in Landcare;

(2) acknowledges that Landcare has been working for over 25 years to:

(a) improve our farmlands;

(b) breathe new life into waterways;

(c) improve the coastal environment;

(d) restore native vegetation and wildlife habitats; and

(e) protect our urban environment; and

(3) condemns the Government for slashing almost $480 million from Landcare’s budget.

Landcare is a grassroots community organisation with over 100,000 volunteers Australia wide and in excess of 2,000 volunteers in Lake Macquarie, where I come from and where we have over 300 Landcare groups. In the Shortland electorate I will mention just two very large community Landcare groups—Galgabba Landcare group and Belmont Wetlands Landcare group. It is important that in this 25th year of Landcare when we are celebrating Landcare's anniversary that we acknowledge the incredible impact Landcare has had on our environment, both in rural areas, where 40 per cent of activities are conducted by farmers, and in areas such as Lake Macquarie, where the work of those 2,000 dedicated volunteers has contributed to restoring the health of Lake Macquarie through restoration work of creeks and river ways, revegetation, environmental remediation and a lot of hard work.

The strength of Landcare is that it is owned by the community and that community is working to restore the environment in which it lives and works. Now the Abbott government has ripped $483 million out of Landcare over the next five years in its slash-and-burn budget of broken promises. It would use this money to fund its Green Army Program, which I am sure will build a lot of pretty walkways and undertake a lot of beautification but will not undertake the hard environmental work that is done by those dedicated Landcare workers. The beautification is hardly environmental restoration.

When we look at the Green Army the workers that will be involved in it will not have the same versatility and dedication to the environment that Landcare workers have. Those people will not be able to be picked for their skills and the expertise that they have to work on environmental projects. It will disenfranchise all those dedicated Landcare workers that go out day after day to work to restore the environment. This is another example of the government saying one thing before the election and then doing another thing after the election.

I would like to refer to a speech made by the member for Gippsland in May 2010, where he acknowledges the fantastic work of Landcare volunteers and was questioning what he perceived to be a cut in the budget at that time. He said that cutting funds:

… is a kick in the guts to every volunteer who has given up a Sunday morning to plant trees, to remove weeds or to otherwise make a difference to the environment in their local community.

He said:

Landcare is an organisation that has enjoyed bipartisan support across its 20 years of history.

Well, on the side of the parliament, we certainly support Landcare and we know just how important it is. The member for Gippsland went on to ask a question of the then minister:

Landcare volunteers want to know if the current minister even try to protect them from these budget cuts.

Certainly in the case of this budget I suspect that the answer is no. We would really like to know what this government's commitment actually is to the environment.

In the Lake Macquarie and Newcastle area the regional coordinator of Landcare has pointed out that for every dollar you invest in Landcare delivers $10 to the community. It is a wise investment. I will finish on the note that the member for Gippsland said in 2010:

This government does not understand regional communities. It is not understand Landcare.

He at that time encouraged members of Landcare to contact their local radio stations and to write their local newspaper and put on record that they support Landcare and so should the government. This government stands condemned.

Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Andrew Leigh (Fraser, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

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

I rise today to speak on this motion and to say 'Happy Birthday' to Landcare. They are celebrating 25 years of doing fantastic environmental work in this nation. Happy birthday, Landcare. It is very interesting to be here in the house because I have a family involvement in Landcare going back a very long time. As a matter of fact, in Victoria there were two female ministers who were heavily involved in Landcare when it started off—one of them was the former Labor Premier Joan Kirner; the other one was my mother. So it is particularly good to be here today to talk about Landcare's achievements over 25 years and to reach out to the other side to say: 'It's great that we still have bipartisanship when it comes to Landcare and everything that it has to offer.'

In this year's budget we sought to make sure that there is still a workforce for Landcare and to ensure that Landcare projects are properly developed and properly implemented. We have done this by bringing the Green Army into the Landcare program. To those opposite who are looking a little bit cynical about this, even though it always had a bipartisan approach, let me give one example: Basalt to Bay in my electorate. I see the shadow agriculture minister is in the House, and I invite him to the electorate of Wannon to see this project.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I was there during the campaign.

Dan Tehan (Wannon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the motion put forward by the member for Shortland. I congratulate her on a motion which both acknowledges and recognises the wonderful work of Landcare, its leading people and its volunteers but also highlights the threat to Landcare posed by this callous budget which has cut such a wonderful organisation. I listened closely to the member for Wannon and I almost do not need to make a speech now—he said it all for me! He acknowledged the wonderful work that Landcare and its volunteers do together to battle soil salinity and erosion, deploying sound land management practices. Each year they plant millions of native trees, shrubs and grasses for a range of benefits, including improved soil and water quality. This is why none of us can understand why the government has broken yet another election promise in its decision to cut $480 million from Landcare in this its 25th year. This year, when it is celebrating such a significant birthday, why would the government so dramatically cut funding to an organisation which is doing such great work and which has met with such great success?

It has been estimated that for every dollar the government invests in Landcare it receives $5 in return. Why is that so? It is because there are so many people out there volunteering and sharing their expertise. This is the important point to be made about the Green Army. I am sure there are some circumstances where the Green Army may be able to enhance and extend upon the work done by our Landcare people. But anyone in this place who has had anything to do with Landcare groups will know that the work they do is quite complex. This is effectively science we are dealing with.

I have been most impressed by the knowledge and expertise of so many people I have met in Landcare groups. Many of them are farmers. Many of them are environmentalists. Many of them are associated with farmers or local Landcare groups and have simply been looking for an opportunity to give something back to their community in an area which is so important to the sustainability of this country. Forty per cent of our farmers are part of Landcare, and many more of them use Landcare practices. This is a program supported by those who work our land.

I started by saying that this is a broken promise. Of course, it is. I note that the member for Wannon, while he spent a lot of time praising Landcare, did not address this key aspect of this motion. In keeping with the Speaker's ruling, I will not seek to table this document I have with me. But I have with me a media release from the now Minister for the Environment, Greg Hunt, dated 26 August 2013. You remember that date, don't you, Mr Deputy Speaker? I am sure the shadow minister at the table does. It was just before the last federal election. It seems there were a lot of media releases issued and commitments made just before 7 September last year. I do not know what the coalition's private polling was telling them, but the end result leaves one with no doubt that they should not have been too concerned. In August a lot of media releases were issued and a lot of promises were made. Here is one from the now environment minister with an absolute guarantee that, while Caring for our Country and Landcare would be merged into a single entity, the funding would be guaranteed.

We raised questions on this in Senate estimates just last week. We could not get any answers. This is one of the most obvious breaches of an election commitment of all, which, like the commitments to health, education and pensions and no tax increases, was a commitment made out of desperation and from a mob who were just so determined to take office at any cost that they were prepared to promise anything and everything. They were elected on a lie. They were elected on a false premise that they would not cut health, education and pensions and that they would not cut Landcare. They should not cut Landcare in its 25th year. It is too important a program to be cut.

Ken Wyatt (Hasluck, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is my pleasure to rise to speak to this motion from the member for Shortland, as many in this House know of my passion for the environment. It is in recognition of this passion that the then shadow minister for the environment, now minister, announced in 2012 my role as the coalition's Environment Ambassador for Western Australia. Landcare should be congratulated in their 25th year of operation for the campaigns and practical work they achieve and for their many volunteers who conduct activities across this country to promote sustainable natural resource management in partnership with our farmers, miners and, of course, local communities. It is the strength of their ethos and passion that sees them continue to grow and thrive within our environmental discourse and landscape. It is also because of this strength that they will continue to grow and thrive for many, many more years to come.

In my electorate of Hasluck, we are proud to be the home of Men of the Trees WA. Men of the Trees is an outstanding local not-for-profit group that promotes environmental sustainability, revegetates landscapes by planting trees across Western Australia and educates young and old alike. I mention Men of the Trees for two reasons. Firstly, when the Minister for the Environment, then shadow minister for the environment, the Hon. Greg Hunt MP, visited Men of the Trees in 2011 to launch Hasluck's Green Map, he committed half a million trees to them should the coalition be successful at last year's election. I am pleased to report that I have had many fruitful discussions with the minister about the delivery of this commitment and I look forward to making further statements and announcements on it in the future. Secondly, Men of the Trees are trying to set a new world record! On Friday, 25 July this year, Men of the Trees will be attempting to plant 100,000 seedlings within an hour to break the world record. I am thrilled today to inform the House that Team Hasluck and I will be at Whiteman Park, assisting Men of the Trees in this world record attempt.

Men of the Trees are looking for more volunteers to help out at the Project 100k—The Greening Challenge world record attempt. If Western Australian residents, particularly those within Hasluck and Pearce, want to get involved then contact my office or Men of the Trees directly to find out more information. You can also jump online and visit their website or Facebook page.

The reason I have talked about Men of the Trees and their world record attempt is that Landcare Australia regularly partners with them and is promoting the world record attempt—proof of the local partnerships and impact they have in my electorate of Hasluck. Those opposite, particularly the member for Shortland, have used this motion—which should be a positive endorsement of Landcare's outstanding track record in the community and celebration of Landcare's 25th anniversary—as a cheap political stunt to attack the government. Shame on them. Instead of attacking the government, the member for Shortland and the Leader of the Opposition should outline how they plan to fix the budget mess that they helped create.

Now the Budget has been delivered, the design of the National Landcare Program can be progressed. Despite the member's protestations, through the National Landcare Program, the government will invest $1 billion from 2014-15 to 2017-18. The government intends to put land management back at the centre of Landcare. It is interesting to note that over three-quarters of farmers identify with the Landcare movement—some 6,000 Landcare groups and over 100,000 volunteers. This demonstrates that Australians understand how important it is to get natural resource management right. The National Landcare Program is complemented by other initiatives, including the Green Army program, the Reef 2050 Plan, the Whale and Dolphin Protection Plan, Working on Country, the Land Sector Package and investments in the Great Barrier Reef Foundation. In fact, Landcare groups will be key beneficiaries of the government's long and proud history of supporting local communities' land management efforts.

I pledge today that I will continue to advocate and promote the government's environmental credentials in Hasluck, Western Australia and across the nation. The members opposite can play their cheap political games but, at the end of the day, the government's strong environmental agenda will strengthen and protect the rich natural landscape that makes Australia such a great place to call home.

Debate adjourned.