Tuesday, 2 June 2026

 Sarah MANSFIELD (Western Victoria) (15:33): Recently I had the pleasure of travelling around parts of the Western Victoria Region with Corinne and Ben from Trust for Nature and visiting some amazing properties. Sincere thanks to Matt, Ros, Peter and Simone for having me at their places to see what can be achieved if we prioritise nature. Trust for Nature works to protect native plants and wildlife forever, using conservation covenants over land. They also have brilliant experts on hand, like Ben, who can provide advice and guidance for people who are working to restore habitat. The Greens are proud to have been able to get additional funding and support for their conservation work, and it was terrific to be able to get out and see some of the benefits of that. I was blown away by the properties we visited and the dedication of the people who were patiently working to restore the land, whether through partnerships with Wadawurrung traditional owners to do cool burns and revegetation or through literally getting on their knees and pulling out weeds and invasive species for hours and hours on end. What I particularly loved seeing was how ancient species reappeared when given the opportunity. Once native habitat was restored and freed from pest plants and animals, it thrived and essentially took care of itself. There is so much we can all learn from this. I would love to see more of our public and private lands restored to native habitat in the way that Trust for Nature helps to do.