Thursday, 5 February 2026

 Melina BATH (Eastern Victoria) (12:55): My question is to the Minister for Environment. This is a statewide issue, but I am going to focus on the very important farmers in my electorate. Farmers in the Dargo region in north-east Gippsland have been very much affected by the bushfires, and one of the things that has occurred is that the separating fences, the wild dog exclusion fences, have been burnt. What that means is the wild dogs are penetrating into farms and they are ripping apart calves, sheep and lambs. This is devastating on top of the bushfires that have already occurred. What has happened as past protocol is that governments have funded 50 per cent of the upgrade, because they are the neighbour of the farmers. The Victorian Farmers Federation has been calling for equipment, including posts and wires and all of that, as an urgent priority. So I ask: will the minister fast-track funding and coordination of replacement of the predator fencing and also make sure that predator management is there while this takes place?

Sitting suspended 12:56 pm until 2:01 pm.