The real story behind yesterday’s announcement of grants under the federal Caring for our Country program is that Victoria’s environment has been dudded again by Peter Garrett, Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change David Davis said.
“Compare the $109 million for New South Wales projects and the $95.6 million for Queensland projects to the measly $47.3 million allocated for projects to support and improve Victoria’s degraded and threatened environment and a clear picture of Peter Garrett’s policy bias emerges,” Mr Davis said.
Victorian Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs) suffered a massive 40 per cent cut to their historical average funding from the Federal Government at 1 July 2008.
From 1 July 2009 federal funding cuts to some Victorian CMAs stood to reach 100 per cent – the removal of all Federal funding – as part of Peter Garrett’s scorched earth policy.
While yesterday’s Caring for our Country funding announcement will benefit Victorian CMAs, it is nevertheless true to form and just the latest in a series of developments exhibiting an anti-Victorian bias on the part of the Minister and the Rudd Labor Government.
On top of Peter Garrett’s earlier cuts to Victorian CMAs, yesterday’s poor showing by Victoria in the Caring for our Country grants comes as a double whammy for Victoria’s environment.
According the Victorian National Parks Association, Victoria is ‘the most degraded state in the country (where) more than 90% of private land has been cleared of native vegetation (and) nearly a third of our native animals and half of our indigenous plants are extinct or threatened’.
In addition the Garnaut Report has made clear South Eastern Australia, including Victoria, will bear the brunt of the impacts of climate change.
“John Brumby and his government need to stand up for Victoria’s interests and our fragile and degraded environment. They need to ask why Victoria is being discriminated against. Continuing to accept in silence Federal Labor’s anti-Victorian bias in environmental funding is just not good enough. Direct action is required now, before the situation gets any worse,” Mr Davis said.
