2020-04-21
The Andrews Government has continued to green-light the destruction of Victoria’s environment under the cover of COVID-19 with the release of its omnibus bill.
Buried in this 300+ page bill is an 18-month delay to Victoria's new environmental protection laws, which were due to begin operating in July this year.
There's no logical reason why a pandemic should delay these urgently required improvements to our lax and outdated environment laws.
The Government has also made a number of other environmentally damaging decisions under the cover of COVID-19 recently, including:
- Lifting the moratorium on onshore gas drilling in Victoria
- Delaying an announcement on its emissions reductions targets indefinitely
- Signing a ten-year logging deal with the Prime Minister, which will give the logging industry an exemption from environment laws and will continue the regime of sending our native animals extinct
- Delaying a response to the VEAC recommendations for new national parks in Victoria’s central west, which was due in March
- Delaying a response to the damning Victorian State of the Environment Report, which was also due in March
- Providing no detail on funding or rehabilitation for the environment after the summer’s bushfires
Victorian Greens spokesperson for environment, Ellen Sandell, said that the environment shouldn’t become a casualty of the crisis and that it needed to be prioritised and protected following the summer’s tragic bushfires.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens spokesperson for environment, Ellen Sandell MP:
"While everyone is understandably focused on the COVID crisis, the Andrews Government is trying to quietly push through damaging changes that will impact our environment and health for decades to come.
"People haven't forgotten the destruction caused by the summer's bushfires. Dan Andrews can't use COVID as an excuse to create even more damage to our environment and climate."