Tuesday, 1 August 2023

Public consultation

Nicholas McGOWAN (North-Eastern Metropolitan) (20:18): (342) My adjournment matter is actually with respect to the minister representing the Minister for Climate Action, Minister for Energy and Resources and Minister for the State Electricity Commission the Honourable Lily D’Ambrosio, and the action I seek is that the minister commit to a thorough public consultation process before progressing the Mineral Resources (Sustainable Development) Amendment Bill 2023.

It will come as no surprise to this house or in fact to the Parliament that over the course of the last couple of weeks a number of constituents – of mine, President, of yours too and of others in this place‍ – have written to me and expressed their concern at the lack of public consultation, and rightly they have. For the benefit of them and all of the other Victorians who might listen to this, they are Maurice from Boronia; Ally from Doncaster – that is for my colleague in the other place Mr Guy; Don from Heidelberg – that is for Mr Carbines; Robert from Ringwood North; Kirsten from Eaglemont; Anouk from Heidelberg Heights, a place I am very familiar with; Genevieve from Eaglemont; Robin from Ringwood North; Marie from Ringwood East; William from Vermont – and it goes on; the list is quite comprehensive. All of these people are concerned about consultation or a lack thereof by this government. There are Andrew from Templestowe Lower; Robert from Wantirna; Heather from Montmorency – that is Vicki Ward’s territory, from memory, from the other place, yet again; Jane from Kilsyth – I think that is Mr Hodgett, if memory serves me correctly; and Melissa from Ringwood East – that is Mr Fowles. I am not sure what he is doing tonight; he is probably out on the town. Michael is from Bayswater – from memory that would be Mr Mullahy, I think; Owen from Burwood East – that is perhaps Mr Hamer’s area; Simon from Croydon; Marguerite from Eltham – that is Vicki Ward again; Teresa from Warranwood; Susan from Park Orchards; Bruce from Heathmont; Brian from Ringwood – that is Mr Fowles again; Steven from Chirnside Park; Damian and Hiromi from Mitcham; and, last but not least, Angela from Eltham.

These are constituents of mine – and not only mine, President, but also yours, Sonja Terpstra’s, Aiv from the Greens and also Dr Bach’s, who is here with us tonight. He understands and shares my concern that yet again all these Victorians – more than 25 of them, in fact 26 or thereabouts – have written and expressed their concern that this government time and again have absolutely steamrolled, ignored and shown absolute disregard for public consultation when it comes to their amendments, whether it be the Commonwealth Games, whether it be the forestry industry, as my learned colleague Beverley McArthur knows about all too well, whether it be the gaming industry and the changes they made overnight or whether it be the sporting sector in respect of the Commonwealth Games. I ask the minister to address these serious concerns.