Wednesday, 4 August 2021

Statements on parliamentary committee reports

Public Accounts and Estimates Committee

Report on the 2020–21 Budget Estimates

Mr T BULL (Gippsland East) (10:12): I wish to make a few comments on the 2020–21 budget estimates. Within this committee report there are many, many references to bushfire recovery. I will focus on page 192 and the reference there relating to delivering bushfire recovery. As you know, Deputy Speaker, my region was pretty severely impacted by the fires of the 2019–20 bushfire season. But when it comes to bushfire recovery this government has moved pretty much at the speed of a glacier, and worse still, they will not tell communities when the works will be completed. Our communities want time frames on when the works will be finished at specific sites.

Just one month ago—on 5 July it was—I had a hook-up with representatives from the minister’s office and Parks Victoria, and I was told I would be given a list of all bushfire recovery works in my region within 10 days and that it would have a status of the works and an expected completion date. Here we are now into August and I still do not have that list. Nineteen months after the fires went through East Gippsland this is what the situation looks like—19 months. The Thurra River campground and access to Point Hicks remains out of action, and the word is that it will not be restored until late next year. One bridge that provides access to a campground of 50 and the famous Point Hicks lighthouse that people would have seen on a number of postcards and brochures—access will not be restored for three years. One bridge, three years after the fires—I mean, you have seriously got to be kidding. Even in the department that will give an overstated time frame and then say, ‘We’ve delivered it early’, three years is just a despicable time frame to be given. The Cape Conran boardwalk has still got police tape up—that popular boardwalk around the East Cape there. There is no time frame of when that will be finished. There is a little bit of action going on at Mallacoota at some of the jetties but not all sites. Many of the day visitor areas around Mallacoota still have the tapes up restricting access. I was told that the Mallacoota works would be finished by mid 2021. It is mid 2021 now and many have not even been started. Other areas include the Wilderness Coast Walk, the Fly Cove Walk at Wingan Inlet, Mueller Inlet campgrounds, Cicada Trail, Swan Lake Track, Clinton Rocks Track—I was told this was open, but it is still on the website as being closed—the Wingan Inlet Rapids Walk and Elusive Lake Walk, and there are many more. It is 19 months on after the fires, and this government told us it would walk with us and assist in our recovery.

I also want some clarity on some of the works being done at Mallacoota. There were a couple of jetties up there that were in disrepair prior to the fires in Kingfisher Point and Cape Horn. I believe they are being upgraded as a result of bushfire recovery funding, but the bushfire did not impact on them. I think Parks are using some of these bushfire recovery funds for their own maintenance funds. We need to know the time frames. The Buchan Caves is another one that has run into complications and been closed. We need time frames and a work status on those issues.

I also want to quickly refer to page 181 of the same report and the reference to the mining sector, and I ask the government to please keep my community informed of the progress relating to the Fingerboards mineral sands mine. The proposal has recently been through the environment effects statement process and has then had assessments done, and I understand a report is currently being prepared for the minister on this proposal. There is a high level of interest in my community on this issue, and I would ask the minister to please keep my community informed during the various stages of this process and in particular to outline the time frames that are attached to them.