Environment policy
Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (12:12): My question is to the minister representing the minister for the environment. The state of the environment report depicts a catastrophic environmental situation, with escalating rates of extinction resulting in the loss of more mammals in Australia than on any other continent. The federal environment and water minister, Tanya Plibersek, said that the state of the environment report was a shocking document that told a story of crisis and decline in Australia’s environment and a decade of government in action and wilful ignorance. ‘I won’t be putting my head in the sand’, she said. ‘Under Labor the environment is back on the priority list’. Hear, hear! My question is: given a lot of this report includes a shocking depiction of Victoria’s current environmental scorecard, will the state government also be getting their heads out of the sand and putting the environment back on the priority list?
Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy, Minister for Veterans) (12:13): Can I thank Mr Hayes for his question and his passion around the environment, which he shows regularly in this chamber. This is a question for Lily D’Ambrosio, the minister for environment. I have not secretly been sworn in as the minister for environment as well, which seems to be the custom and practice of Liberal-National governments. Given that I have not secretly been sworn in as the minister for environment, I will make sure that Mr Hayes’s question is delivered to the minister for environment and he gets an answer within what is prescribed within the standing orders.
Mr HAYES (Southern Metropolitan) (12:14): I am glad to hear Mr Leane has not been secretly sworn in. My supplementary is: ecologists list land clearing as a top cause of wildlife losses, and the state of the environment report said between 2000 and 2017 there was 7.7 million hectares of land cleared across Australia and 93 per cent of the vegetation was felled without federal approvals for threatened species habitat. A prime example of this in Victoria relates to the recent approval for Grantville sand mines, where despite populations of vulnerable species listed under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 being present on the site the government granted approval to allow the ripping out of a vital biolink connecting two conservation reserves. This was done without referral to the commonwealth EPBC act. Can the minister explain why federal approvals are not sought before clearing land to ensure endangered species are not made extinct?
The PRESIDENT: I am struggling with the supplementary, but I call the minister.
Mr LEANE (Eastern Metropolitan—Minister for Commonwealth Games Legacy, Minister for Veterans) (12:16): Thank you, Mr Hayes. That is a supplementary question obviously for the minister for the environment. I will make sure that she gets your question and you get your response as prescribed in the standing orders.