Tuesday, 28 October 2025

 Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (22:51): (2040) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Environment, and the action that I seek is for the public release of the most recent EPA Victoria reports regarding environmental compliance within Victoria’s dairy industry. In May 2025, EPA Victoria announced that only eight dairy farms passed the Environment Protection Authority’s test for the appropriate management of dairy effluent out of the 43 dairy farms inspected across three eastern Gippsland municipalities – that is less than one in five dairy facilities meeting basic health and environmental standards. EPA-authorised officers inspected properties for leaks, poorly managed effluent ponds, faulty pumps and pipes and contamination of nearby waterways and neighbouring farms. Dairy effluent is a significant pollutant and a serious risk to human, animal and environmental health if it escapes into waterways or onto neighbouring properties. This pattern of repeated noncompliance within the dairy sector shows a disturbing disregard for environmental law and points to systemic environmental management failures. It reflects an industry already deeply marked by entrenched environmental disregard, one that urgently needs reform, transparency and enforcement strong enough to match the scale of the environmental harm it continues to cause.

In February 2025 a major dairy-processing company was ordered to pay EPA Victoria $650,000 plus $30,000 in costs over three industrial spills that threatened a creek and wetland in Rowville. The spills risked sending harmful substances directly into the surrounding environment, including the wetland ecosystem. Then in August 2025 a dairy manufacturer at Tullamarine was fined almost $6000 after a member of the public reported hundreds of litres of a milky-white discharge flowing across parklands towards Steele Creek from the company’s premises. The liquid dairy waste was found pooled around trees, soil and vegetation, with EPA officers detecting a strong smell of rancid milk. The company was fined for unlawfully discharging waste into the environment. These incidents reflect a broader trend of inadequate regulation and enforcement within Victoria’s dairy industry. Communities living near these farms and facilities deserve to know the level of environmental harm occurring in their waterways and what actions are being taken to address it. Could the minister please provide the most recent compliance audit reports for dairy effluent systems on dairy farms in Victoria, including the number of farms inspected, the number meeting compliance, the number of improvement or enforcement notices issued and any follow-up actions or penalties implemented to ensure accountability and protect the environment?