Wednesday, 4 February 2026

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (17:37): I would like to make a couple of comments in statements on reports on the Victorian government’s response to the parliamentary inquiry into climate resilience. The response has just come out today I believe, and I have just started to have a look into it, so there will be more things to say moving forward. But as I start on this conversation, I would like to put on record my thanks to somebody, a very special person, in this place who retired after I think it was 29 years of service in the Victorian Parliament, and that is our former secretariat of the Environment and Planning Committee – in fact I think she has been secretariat to many, many, many committees – and that is Lilian Topic. I was very pleased to attend her farewell, and I know there were very lovely speeches made about her. What I appreciate is the dedication of our parliamentary staff and their expertise but also very much their humanity in dealing with the general public when we have hearings, when we have submitters. They really work hand-in-glove to maximise the experience of those people and also to maximise the truth so that humble members of Parliament can analyse. Then, without taking anything away from the chair of the committee, I assume that our secretariat, including Lilian, workshops the most skilful interpretation of very difficult legislation and regulations – and I will not say it is intergalactic stellar, but it is all the way in-between. So thank you, Lilian, for your service to the Victorian people and certainly to our committee into the bargain.

In relation to some of the things that the government has agreed with, I am pleased to say that if you go back and look into the report, there are some good sections in there, including:

That the Victorian Government ensure First Nations land management practices are firmly embedded in climate resilience … including adaptation plans.

I am pleased that that is in there. I think as part of the whole climate change discussion we have to look back into history and understand what worked in the past and how our traditional owners, our First Nations people, actually managed the land. Many, many times I have said in here and many books have been written on the fact that they actively managed the land through fire in the landscape. We should reintroduce that practice and bring it back in a holistic sense. I think that this state, the government and the Liberals and Nationals without a doubt can look to walk and chew gum. I think we can do bushfire mitigation and fuel reduction as well as First Nations land practices such as cool burns. I think this is a really important part of not only reducing the risk in our communities but also healing country. I know that is a glib word. Somebody will probably say ‘How can you say that?’ I think it is very important. When you go out into the forest you often hear people say – whether they be old mountain cattle men or women, whether they be aged Victorians up in East Gippsland like John Mulligan or whether they be very knowledgeable fire practitioners – that the country is sick and we need to heal it. Part of that discussion needs to be around how we can do more of these cultural burns. They are cultural burns, or certainly cool burns – the right smoke creeping over the landscape – but they also have a net positive effect for the environment and, as a by-product, bushfire mitigation.

I would like to put on record and again invite people to have a look at the minority report. We speak about very much adapting to climate resilience on our coastal fronts. Right across Victoria and indeed in Gippsland there are issues facing our coastal communities, including coastal erosion. This must be an imperative that all sides of Parliament work towards, because we are coastal dwellers. There are a lot of people that live in coastal communities and towns, and we need to have a coordinated response. There is a great example in WA about a traffic light system to understand the importance of and target the resources in relation to coastal erosion.