Tuesday, 11 August 2026

 Nathan LAMBERT (Preston) (14:37): (1747) My question is for the Minister for Environment, and my question is: how does the current scale of Forest Fire Management Victoria operations compare to the previous VicForests commercial timber operations in terms of the annual volumes of pulp log and sawlog that ultimately make their way out of state forests or, if that data is not available, in terms of the hectares of state forest subject to vegetation removal? I note there is particular interest in Preston and Reservoir about the Central Highlands ecosystems in particular, which are obviously closest to our part of the world, so any information that the minister’s team could provide about that geographical area specifically would be greatly appreciated. Finally, I have noted that the Liberals have said a few negative things about our public servants today, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank the fantastic Victorian public service team who continue to manage our forestry transition, including the amazing Deb Hall under the leadership of Beth Jones, but also including Andrew Waller, Jeff Svigos and, until recently, Rosita Dalla Rosa and Ross Potter – all fantastic Victorian public servants. We are grateful for their work on Victoria’s forest policies.

The SPEAKER: The procedure office team has been updating outstanding items in the questions and responses database. This is obviously to reflect the new portfolios that have just been announced and the Council ministers representing Assembly ministers. As of midday today there are still about 60 matters to be redirected in the database.

Tim Read: On a point of order, Speaker, on that, I have got about 14 unanswered questions, and I will just email those numbers to the Clerk.

The SPEAKER: If you could hand your list to the clerks, they will follow it up.