Former Victorian Police Commissioner Neil Comrie who has the job of monitoring the response to the Black Saturday Royal Commission, says a target to burn 5% of Victoria’s public land every year must be reconsidered. Neil Comrie is now saying what we have for years – DSE should instead focus on protecting high-risk fire areas …
A logging road in South Gippsland is being given a quarter of a million dollar upgrade to help the trucks travel faster. Deputy Premier and Gippsland South National Party MLA Peter Ryan said his government will widen a bend on Woorarra Rd, between Wonyip and Ryton Junction. This road curve has inadequate passing space for …
THE man charged with monitoring the state government’s response to the Black Saturday royal commission says a target to burn 5 per cent of Victoria’s public land every year to ease bushfire risk must be reconsidered. In his final report Bushfire Royal Commission Implementation Monitor Neil Comrie says the state’s burning program should instead focus …
Being our ‘eagles of the night’, owls are rarely seen. Our most mysterious owls are those that live in forests, and even more cryptic are those that can only thrive in old growth forests. They are becoming increasingly endangered. Our state government is currently reviewing owl protection zones (June 2012), but they are using out …
The economy’s going to grow at 3 per cent this year and the Budget surplus is to grow over time. It’s all grow, grow, grow, even in these straitened times. There’s a pie chart in the Federal Budget overview that shows “where taxpayer money is spent”. A big slice of this luscious pie goes to …
The formal status of Australia’s Koalas was delivered on 30th April by Federal Environment Minister Tony Burke. The long-awaited for declaration announced that Queensland, NSW and the ACT will have their koala’s listed as vulnerable under the national environment protection law. But koalas in South Australia and Victoria are excluded. However, if these Koalas, with …
The government’s announcement that it will spend $1.8M to survey for endangered wildlife in Eastern Victoria is like throwing a teaspoon of sugar into a cauldron of bitter swill. Environment East Gippsland says that this shines the spotlight on the environmental hypocrisy of the Baillieu government. “The government might be offering $1.8M to look for …
This is the third report in a series, Monitoring Victoria’s Environmental Laws, to be published by the EDO. It investigates how effectively the Department of Sustainability and Environment is enforcing the Flora & Fauna Guarantee Act (FFG Act) and the Wildlife Act. It shows that the FFG Act remains very poorly implemented, with many of …
Snowy River Alliance has called on the Victorian Coalition Government to honour the requirements and intent of the Snowy legislation regarding the establishment of an independent Snowy Scientific Committee and has expressed grave concerns regarding the lack of due process. The Snowy Scientific Committee (SSC) is the key independent scientific body required by legislation to …
As $45 million of your taxes is about to be divvied up for broke loggers, a worrying precedent has come to light that raises serious questions about this bailout of a struggling industry. Attempts by successive federal governments to pay businesses out of the native forest industry in Tasmania have failed to meet basic benchmarks …
