Members statements
Firewood collection
Peter WALSH (Murray Plains) (16:06): I want to raise the farcical situation for the people of my electorate if they rely on wood for heating this winter. For the people of Swan Hill it is a 340-kilometre round trip to the nearest coupe that has been set aside for firewood. For the people of Echuca it is a 260-kilometre round trip to the nearest coupe that has been set aside for firewood. The crazy part is if I lived in Bourke Street just down the road from Parliament, it would be only 60 kilometres to the nearest coupe for firewood. The people of Swan Hill, the people of Echuca and those in between have to travel hundreds of kilometres to get their firewood. There is plenty of wood in northern Victoria – if the Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action and Parks Victoria would just make it available for the people that live in that particular area. There always has been and there always will be plenty of wood there, except for the government departments and the rules that the Allan government have put on the collection of firewood.
So I would urge the minister and the government to actually change the rules and make those coupes available for the people of Swan Hill, for the people of Echuca and for all those in between so that they do not have to drive 340 kilometres for a round trip and they do not have to drive 260 kilometres for a round trip on roads that are full of potholes and are dangerous and littered. To get 2 cubic metres of wood a round trip like that is just not viable, and people cannot afford the cost of energy under the Allan government.