Ms BATH (Eastern Victoria) (11:28):
I would like to continue my discussion in relation to the minority report in the Environment and Planning Committee report handed down today on the inquiry into the decline in ecosystems.
The work of the Liberals and The Nationals has resulted in our presenting a fulsome minority report. It has 15 positive recommendations to help combat or aid in the combat of major threats. They include abandoning the Safer Together fire policy and adopting the 2009 Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission’s recommendations for fuel reductions; working with traditional owners to reintroduce cool Indigenous techniques to complement and work with the prescribed burning programs that we have; collaborating with traditional owners to offer accredited courses in conservation and Indigenous land management, similar to New South Wales; employing a landscape-wide strategy for conservation management of threatened species; abandoning the Andrews government’s abominable ban on native timber logging by 2030—their focus on this particular industry, which is world class, is just an abomination; and abandoning the Andrews government’s idea of reintroducing dingoes as an apex predator. Also, putting a special focus on pests and weeds with local groups like Landcare is a fantastic idea.
