Thursday, 14 August 2025

Eastern Victoria Region

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:48): (1750) My question is for the Minister for Environment. The Nationals believe in law-abiding hunters, public access to public land and no new national parks. Recently, in June, the minister spruiked that he would enable deer hunting to occur in the Errinundra and Snowy River national parks, and we endorsed that position. But like this minister and like this government, they tend to kick things down the road after they have made their media splash. This area has been hit by the closure of industries and the neglect of this government in terms of the impact of bushfires some five years ago. So I call on the minister, I ask the minister, to make sure that he does not kick this idea down the road; it deserves its own piece of legislation, its own bill to go through. When will the minister open these national parks up for law-abiding hunters?