2017-10-31
Ms DUNN (Eastern Metropolitan) — On Wednesday last week I visited members of the community in Mirboo North to discuss their concerns about VicForests's plans to log state forest just to the north of the township. Community leaders were kind enough to give me a guided tour of the Lyrebird Forest Walk, showing me many of the rare plant species that can be found in the forest and the fruits of many thousands of hours of volunteer work by the community. My thanks to Marg Thomas for organising the visit.
If VicForests proceeds to log adjacent coupes, all this work will be put to waste. This forest will no longer be a beautiful retreat for locals and the backbone of the tourism sector in the area. Instead residents and passers-by will be subjected to the abhorrent spectre of logged and burnt logging coupes. I will stand with the residents of Mirboo North as they oppose the logging of states forests by VicForests. They know their forest trees are worth far more in the ground than they are from being converted into pulp and woodchips. The opposition to logging is justified, and I hope in the case of Mirboo North their opposition will triumph.