Thursday, 17 October 2024

South-Eastern Metropolitan Region

Rachel PAYNE (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (12:48): (1170) My constituency question is for the Minister for Environment and Minister for Outdoor Recreation. My constituent is a resident of Rowville and a member of Friends of Lysterfield Park. Friends of Lysterfield Park is a local volunteer group who work to preserve this prime parkland for the whole community to enjoy, but Lysterfield Park has a boneseed problem. This small evergreen shrub produces up to 50,000 seeds per plant. Spread by seed, boneseed impacts native vegetation and reduces the biodiversity value of bushland. There are already 1 million boneseed weed trees in Lysterfield Park, and without effective control they are doubling every three years, as is the cost of removal. Any efforts to remove this invasive species must be long term to prevent re-establishment. So my constituent asks: will the minister fund the eradication of boneseed in Lysterfield Park?