Friends of Steele Creek
Ben CARROLL (Niddrie – Minister for Education, Minister for Medical Research) (10:11): It is my pleasure to rise to make a statement on the Friends of Steele Creek. At the outset I want to congratulate the retiring president Helen van den Berg, who for several decades has been a warrior for cleaner urban waterways in Melbourne’s north-west. Helen and her partner Jos have been dedicated to making Melbourne’s north-west what it is, one of the most environmentally friendly places around. It was my pleasure to meet the new president Peter Hoyne, fittingly at Perry’s cafe down at Valley Lake Boulevard, which is something that Helen fought so hard for when the former Liberal government under Jeff Kennett wanted to make the estate there a toxic waste site. It is now a beautiful living community, and to be there at Perry’s cafe – we worked so hard to make sure it became a cafe for the local environment and not additional housing – was good. But more than that, I was there to announce $200,000 to improve the habitat and water quality of Steele Creek. With the new president of Friends of Steele Creek Peter Hoyne it was really important to highlight what this money will do. It will provide more cool, green spaces and better nutrition for the urban creeks, rivers and waterways down at the Valley Lake estate. This grant can be used for the local fauna, to increase the floristic diversity of the area and to plant aquatic and semi-aquatic plants to improve the water quality at Steele Creek.