Tuesday, 10 September 2019

 Mr MEDDICK (Western Victoria) (13:39): On Friday, 30 August, I attended the G21 forum at the RACV resort in Torquay, along with the Premier and several members of the government, including Minister Tierney from this house. It was fantastic to once again hear the presentation of Mr David Harland, CEO of Eden Project International, who are deep into a partnership with Alcoa with a proposal to rehabilitate and turn the now-redundant Anglesea mine into an incredible interactive ecotourism experience, although that description does it little justice. The end result will be an environment that brings back all manner of native wildlife and creates a stunning example of what collaborative restoration can achieve.

I have been working for a long time now with the project behind the scenes, with the Surf Coast shire and with the various ministers and departments that are necessarily involved in such an ambitious project that will not only rehabilitate a big hole in the ground but create an estimated 300 jobs for the local community and an additional 1400 in the construction phase and ongoing supply. The community have been part of the consultation, and the overwhelming majority are right behind it. I am proud to be working with the Eden Project, and I sincerely hope that the government can work its way through the administrative hurdles and bring this extraordinary vision to reality.