Tuesday, 7 May 2024

Monbulk electorate

Daniela DE MARTINO (Monbulk) (12:48): (625) My constituency question is to the Minister for Planning. Minister, what is the Allan Labor government doing to protect our green wedges, particularly those located across my district of Monbulk? Apart from the corridor following the Belgrave train line, Ferntree Gully, some parts of The Basin and a few small pockets around Gembrook, Montrose and Monbulk, the vast majority of the land in the seat of Monbulk is zoned green wedge. The Dandenong Ranges and foothills is a unique area of our state, which I would claim is the most beautiful part of Victoria, if not Australia. This land has been protected to one degree or another since the early 1970s, when the Planning Policies for the Melbourne Metropolitan Region report first identified that the values of the land, across the ranges and amongst other regions, should be preserved. The new plan for Victoria, which was recently released, outlines 20 actions to protect Victoria’s green wedges and agricultural land. It is a topic I am often asked about by my constituents, and I look forward to the minister’s response about how the Allan Labor government will protect our precious, beautiful and unique part of this state.