The Silver Review’s recommendation to abolish the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) confirms what many Victorians already knew — that this was a taxpayer-funded bureaucracy driven by ideology, not outcomes.
In the last financial year alone, VEAC cost Victorian taxpayers more than $1.4 million, employed six full-time staff, and yet did not undertake a single formal investigation, all while the condition of Victoria’s public land continues to deteriorate.
Shadow Minister for Public Land Management, Melina Bath, said: “Despite being promoted as an “independent” advisory body, VEAC became deeply embedded in the Labor Government’s policy development — supplying advice to government taskforces, justifying political decisions, and advancing pre-determined outcomes, rather than delivering real, on-ground improvements to land management.”
“The $1.4 million spent last year alone running this failed agency should’ve instead been invested into better land management and bushfire prevention services.
“After 11 years of Labor, VEAC reviews and recommendations, the reality is simple: Victoria’s public lands are in worse shape than ever. Bushfire risk is rising, invasive species are spreading, regional tracks and access are degraded, and forests and parks are suffering from neglect — all while Victorians were funding another layer of bureaucracy,” Ms Bath said.
The Silver Review has finally acknowledged what regional communities, firefighters, forest workers and land managers have long understood: process does not equal protection.
“This abolition of VEAC should mark the end of Labor’s obsession with advisory structures and the beginning of a return to practical, properly resourced land management — focused on fuel reduction, access, biodiversity protection and regional jobs.
