Thursday, 14 August 2025

Camping regulation

Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (17:48): (1856) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Environment, and it relates to visitor management and ranger oversight in state forests and camping areas around Coopers Creek, Bruntons Bridge and the surrounding area. This happens to be in the seat of Narracan, and I know my good friend Mr Wayne Farnham has been frustrated like me in working with his community on this also. The action I seek is for the minister to work directly with Mountain Rivers Landcare Group to develop a coordinated approach to visitor management in the Mountain Rivers region, including Walhalla – the beautiful Walhalla – Rawson and Erica and commit to urgent improvements before the next peak holiday season, including infrastructure upgrades, visible and consistent ranger presence and clear signage to support visitor safety and get the balance right of protecting the local environment.

I raise this issue on behalf of the Mountain Rivers Landcare Group and the wider community of Walhalla, Rawson and Erica, who were deeply concerned – and still are – about the pressures on this area. Indeed it is a beautiful spot, and I know many of my local Gippslanders have holidayed there over the summer and Easter periods, and also more and more Melbournites – people from the metropolitan area – are finding this beautiful region to come and spend time in. But one of the serious things that happens of course is that it is not managed properly, it is free and dispersed camping – and we endorse that. It is very important, it is necessary. Particularly in a cost-of-living crisis when people are stressed, they need to be able to get out in the environment, enjoy the environment and commune, but when it is unorganised and uncoordinated and there is a lack of good governance and oversight, there can be strained facilities, unsafe fires, littered bushland and no clear oversight.

This is what happens when there are particularly insufficient rangers on the ground. I worked with this group and I attended some meetings, as did my colleague, over a couple of meetings, and they were really proactive. You had local people going in with their utes and clearing away rubbish. You had wonderful people going in and handing out plastic bags and asking people – there was good communication and goodwill, but we do not need our environment trashed like this. And what is the cause? It is because this government is directing more and more funds away from positive management of our forests and state parks without the oversight. I ask that the minister work with these people. They have an email and they have information they need to get this job done and sorted.