Thursday, 16 October 2025

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (12:47): (1884) My constituency question is for the Minister for Planning. On 1 January last year the commercial logging of Victoria’s native forests finally ended on public land. However, since then logging companies have used loopholes in our laws to continue their destruction of our native forests. This includes a recent case which saw logging approved on private land near Warburton using a permit from 1977. Another shire also accepted a proposal for native timber harvesting on a private property after the minister chose not to intervene. In fact despite the ban there is nothing in our planning provisions prohibiting the logging of native forests on private land. Victoria is the most cleared state in Australia. The government must act now to stop any further logging of native habitats. Will the minister amend the Victorian planning provisions to ensure there is no further destruction of native forests in my electorate of Northern Victoria?