2017-06-20
MS DUNN — To ask the Special Minister of State (for the Minister for Energy, Environment and Climate Change): In relation to the recent planned burn in Providence Ponds Nature Conservation Reserve by Forest Fire Management Victoria, over 100 trees were felled on the basis that they were hazardous and one of the few remaining colonies of the New Holland mouse may have been wiped out, with only one New Holland mouse being found since the planned burn; could the Minister advise — (1) was this planned burn a fuel reduction burn or an ecological burn; (2) on what basis were the felled trees considered hazardous; (3) were any of the felled trees hollow-bearing; (4) was the Commonwealth Government's Department of Environment and Energy consulted prior to the burn, considering the potential threat the burn posed to a federally-listed species; (a) if yes, what form; and (b) will the Minister make publicly available the Fire Management Plan for the recent burn in Providence Ponds Nature Conservation Reserve.