Environment Victoria is calling on Premier Denis Napthine to rethink the Baillieu government’s ‘scorched earth’ environment policies and start taking Victoria’s environment forwards again.
Environment Victoria CEO Kelly O’Shanassy said today:
“The past two years have seen unprecedented attacks on Victoria’s environment and a rollback of environmental protections that have been in place for decades in some cases.
“Premier Baillieu presided over decisions which prevented billions of dollars of investment in wind and solar farms, weakened the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and cut environment spending and programs. At the same time he supported new polluting and damaging industries like brown coal exports and commercialisation of National Parks.
“A new leader brings an opportunity to stop the attacks on the environment and turn over a new leaf.
“We’re hopeful that a change of leadership will lead to a change in direction on environment policy. In the past Denis Napthine has been a strong supporter of the wind and solar industries, and as the member for the South West Coast he knows first-hand how many jobs the wind industry has created in regional Victoria.
“Abandoning Ted Baillieu’s irrational anti-windfarm laws should be the new Premier’s first action for our environment and for new jobs in Victoria.”
Environment Victoria has today written to the new Premier and highlighted 15 priorities for action at the upcoming State Budget. Along with abandoning anti-windfarm laws, Environment Victoria is calling for the Coalition to:
– deliver on its outstanding pre-election commitments on the environment including meeting promises on water and energy efficiency;
– to abandon plans to allocate brown coal for a new export industry;
– and to develop a clean energy plan for Victoria.
“We know from our work talking with Victorian communities that Premier Baillieu’s attacks on the environment are deeply unpopular. Premier Napthine has the opportunity to spend the next 20 months developing a positive environmental agenda of which the Coalition can be proud.”
Kelly O’Shanassy, 0421 054 402