Will a new Napthine broom sweep clean?
So what difference can we expect to see from the spanking new Premier Napthine?
So far we don’t quite know. We do know he has done away with the position of Parliamentary Secretary for Forests which the logging industry man Gary Blackwood held. We also know that in his electorate, people want wind farms and the employment that would bring.
But he has vigorously opposed the creation of the Otways and Cobboboonee National Parks. And the two ministers in charge of forest destruction and covering up and excusing dastardly deeds, Walsh and Smith, still remain in place.
Below is a list of what the state coalition government has given us:
Threat 1: plans to allow private tourism development in the hearts of our national parks.
Threat 2: Without any local consultation, a chunk of the precious Wombat State Forest is to be ripped up for an open cut goldmine. Apart from being uneconomical, it will irreparably damage valuable forest.
Threat 3: Opening up parks such as the Alpine National Park and Errinundra National Park to mineral fossicking and prospecting.
Threat 4: Melbourne’s critically important green wedges are being chopped up for urban sprawl, threatening a long list of rare species such as the Growling Grass Frog and critically endangering grasslands.
Threat 5: Changes to key environmental laws such as the Flora and Fauna Guarantee Act and the Forests Act, and proposed new native vegetation regulations all devalue nature.
Threat 6: Dropped the Murray River Park that would have linked the magnificent Red Gum National Parks along 1000 kilometres of the Murray River. Returning some areas back to cattle grazing.
Threat 7: A firewood free-for-all has stripped native forests of the ground litter habitats many small mammals, plants and other species call home.
Threat 8: Streamside land is still not protected from the damaging effects caused by cattle grazing.
Threat 9: Red Gum forests might still not get enough water to survive and flourish under the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
Threat 10: Even Victoria’s state emblem, the Leadbeater’s Possum, is having its last remaining habitat logged and destroyed.
Threat 11: Axing hundreds of biodiversity jobs, mainly from DSE and Parks.
Threat 12: Obstructing renewable energy initiatives, like windfarms.
With thanks to http://vnpa.org.au/home