Nature Fund
Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:10): (100) My question is for the Minister for Environment. The Nature Fund was established by the Andrews government to fund high-impact projects to stop the decline of Victoria’s native plants and animals. It was given $10 million in last year’s budget, but that money has now been allocated, applications are closed and there is currently no commitment to any further funding. Will the government commit money to extend the Nature Fund in the upcoming budget?
Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep, Minister for Environment) (12:10): I thank Ms Copsey for her question and her interest in these matters. Can I say that I have had the pleasure of recently meeting with the chair and the CEO of the Trust for Nature, and they do amazing work in our state. They have been overseeing a really wonderful program of creating covenants to protect private land for many, many years now. It is a key part of our Biodiversity 2037 strategy to increase the amount of public and private land that is rehabilitated and revegetated so that we can, within the environment space, play our part in driving down emission reduction targets. We have got very ambitious targets in Victoria, and it is really going to take a whole-of-government effort, including in the environment portfolio, to drive those targets down.
In relation to your specific question about funding for the Trust for Nature, I am not in a position to pre-empt what the deliberations of the budget may result in. That is a matter that has quite a process behind it, and of course the Treasurer will, at the appropriate time, make those announcements associated with the budget, including for the environment portfolio. But what I can reassure you of is that the Andrews Labor government is absolutely committed to supporting all of our various environment initiatives and in particular organisations like the Trust for Nature and the very important work that they do in getting very good environmental outcomes in our state.
Katherine COPSEY (Southern Metropolitan) (12:12): Thank you to the minister for that answer. I wish you well in those deliberations. To put some context around those, the New South Wales government has an equivalent fund that gives out roughly $75 million per year. Other states have funds that are similar and give away much more than $10 million a year. It is really a drop in the ocean when it comes to the extent of the biodiversity crisis that we are facing in Victoria right now. Will the government commit, in the upcoming budget, to scale up the investment in the Nature Fund to meet the size of the biodiversity crisis in our state?
Ingrid STITT (Western Metropolitan – Minister for Early Childhood and Pre-Prep, Minister for Environment) (12:13): I thank Ms Copsey for her supplementary question, and can I say that I am smarting a little bit at the comparison with New South Wales because since coming to government in 2014 we have invested over $560 million in Victoria on biodiversity initiatives. That is the single-largest investment of a Victorian government ever. We are absolutely committed to our ambitious plans that are contained within the Biodiversity 2037 strategy, and as environment minister – you have thrown down the gauntlet now by raising New South Wales – I am absolutely committed to ensuring that we continue to build on that record into the future.