Tuesday, 15 October 2024

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (19:06): (1182) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment, and my topic of discussion tonight is national parks. We have well over 40 national parks in this fine state, and the government is now looking to refresh its view with the closure of the sustainable native timber industry and look to put more state forests into national parks. People should know my view very strongly on this is that we halt this, stop this idea and concentrate on the national parks that we have, preserving their important flora and fauna and particularly threatened and vulnerable species.

A few years ago we conducted an inquiry into the decline in ecosystems, and in that inquiry we heard that this state does not have any baseline data as to vulnerable species populations in our national parks. It does not have that. It does not have an understanding around conditions or conservation values. What we do know is that when the native timber industry was functional and did operate, in every single coupe that existed that was to be harvested and replanted VicForests would have survey scientists go along and assess each and every piece of fauna in there – possums and the like. What we are seeing now and understand is that this government does not do any of that type of investigation or monitoring in our national parks. How can we save something, how can we protect something and how can we build that unless we understand and have factual data in relation to it?

The action I seek from the minister is for him to explain to us his strategy around the monitoring, the assessment and the management of those highest priority conservation reserve areas, including the threatened and vulnerable species. I want him to outline his plan for national parks – not the rest for the moment – and what this government will do, because at the moment it does not have a strategy. What will it do to look after, preserve and conserve those vulnerable and threatened species?