Tuesday, 17 June 2025

Inverloch surf beach

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (18:21): (1705) My adjournment matter is for the attention of the Minister for Environment, and it is a subject that is highly concerning to the people who live along Inverloch and Cape Patterson. It is the ongoing and escalating crisis of coastal erosion. This region is certainly home to vibrant communities, vital ecosystems and cherished public assets, but they are increasingly under threat from storm surges eroding coastline and loss of sand from our beaches.

The Inverloch community has watched with growing alarm as the surf beach dunes have collapsed, eroded and undermined assets. The Inverloch Coastal Advisory Network has been working in good faith with anyone who will work with them where they can, and they wrote to the Sentinel-Times on 3 June this year. Minister, they want you to ensure that the cape-to-cape resilience plan is released before the commencement of stage 1 works in spring so that the community can have confidence in the direction and scope of the project. They want transparency and openness, something that this government struggles with from one day to the next. The community also seeks confirmation that stage 1 beach nourishment and dune reconstruction works will begin in early September and be completed before the end of spring, as previously indicated. These works are critical in stabilising the coastline ahead of the next storm season.

Cost-effective, innovative solutions proposed by community groups, including the installation of a permanent sand slurry pipeline to facilitate future renourishment efforts, must be seriously considered, and these are already happening in various other places around Australia, including Maroochydore. This would also look to reduce those long-term costs and environmental impacts. The community groups are also calling for an additional $3 million to $5 million to complete part B of the initial renourishment works, specifically looking at sand renourishment between Flat Rocks and the Inverloch Road rock wall. Finally, I echo the community’s call for long-term funding to deliver the cape-to-cape pathway over the next decade.

Minister, you are fully aware of these issues, I know, but you have committed in the budgeted $10 million for six communities. Dividing that is insufficient. It will not be enough. We do not want moving sandcastles; we actually need a long-term solution. It is a vexed problem, but literally not doing anything about it other than some small sand movements is not acceptable to this community. I ask that you focus your attention on these issues and respond.