EnviroWatch

On 29 November 2014, Victorians went to the polls and voted in the Andrews Labor Government.

During its election campaign, Labor released a modest environment policy called ‘Our Environment, Our Future’, but also made other environmental commitments through public statements and media releases. You can view the full list, including additional post-election commitments, here.

Since being elected, the Andrews Government has repeatedly stated its desire to be a leader on climate change, renewable energy and the environment. We welcome that ambition, and now we need to make sure the government delivers on it.

This Enviro-Tracker page provides factual, spin-free and up-to-date information for Victorians to track the Andrews Government’s progress on important issues like reducing coal use, increasing renewable energy, creating sustainable homes and protecting our fragile rivers. Environment Victoria also published a report on the progress of the Andrews Government on its first anniversary in late November 2015.

We’ll be continually updating this page and doing our job of increasing transparency and holding our elected leaders to account. You can help by sharing this page with your networks and making sure our politicians know you’re keeping track too!

Below are the actions the Andrews Government has taken, current as of Tuesday 2 February 2016:

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Clean up our power supply and reduce pollution

The following is a list of actions taken so far by the Andrews Government, categorised according to whether they are transformative, substantive, or small but useful.

Click on each category to see the list

Transformative Initiatives

  • The Andrews Government is currently reviewing a large number of policy areas, including in relation to climate change, energy efficiency, water, clean energy, coal and biodiversity. Any or all of these reviews could deliver transformative outcomes for Victoria. We certainly hope so. Watch this space.

Substantial Initiatives

  • Our Environment Our Future policy committed Labor in government to establishing a Victorian greenhouse gas emissions reduction target, and an independent review of the Climate Change Act has commenced. More

  • Labor is reviewing the Environmental Protection Authority (EPA), which may increase the EPA’s power to regulate greenhouse pollution.

  • In February 2015 Labor announced it will develop a Renewable Energy Action Plan, which will outline a comprehensive set of measures to attract Victoria’s share of the $36 billion of investment in renewable energy forecast to occur in Australia by 2020.

  • Labor has reopened the Inquiry into the Hazelwood mine fire with rehabilitation included in the terms of reference, and has committed to adjusting rehabilitation bonds following the Inquiry. Labor will require annual reporting on the progress of rehabilitation works on all coal mines More

  • Labor supported the Parliamentary Inquiry into Unconventional Gas, which has consulted widely on the coal seam gas (CSG) moratorium. The Energy Minister said that the moratorium “will remain in place until the science shows that it is safe and there is broad community support”. More

  • Labor announced it will use $20 million from its $200 million Future Industries Fund for a New Energy Jobs Fund.

  • Labor has reduced the 2km exclusion zone for new wind farms to 1 km, and abolished additional 5km exclusion laws. More

Small But Useful Initiatives

  • Labor announced a new $500,000 program to help Victorian lifesaving clubs install solar panels. More

  • Labor committed funding of $100,000 towards the Macedon Ranges Sustainability Group and provided $200,000 to Newstead to become a ‘solar town’. More

  • New laws were introduced in September 2015 to prevent retailers offering different tariffs or discounts to customers with rooftop solar.

  • Labor has launched an investigation into the adequacy of current regulations for compensating Victorian households and businesses for generating solar power. This move was undermined however by the government allowing the Essential Services Commission to slash solar feed-in tariffs in July 2015.

  • Labor commenced an Inquiry into ensuring small renewable energy projects have ‘fair access’ to the grid. A report is due in February 2016.

NOTE: As these commitments are delivered they may have greater environmental benefits and move into the ‘substantial’ or ‘transformative’ categories above.

 

Make our homes and communities efficient, affordable and sustainable

The following is a list of actions taken so far by the Andrews Government, categorised according to whether they are transformative, substantive, or small but useful.

Click on each category to see the list

Transformative Initiatives

  • The Andrews Government is currently reviewing a large number of policy areas, including in relation to climate change, energy efficiency, water, clean energy, coal and biodiversity. Any or all of these reviews could deliver transformative outcomes for Victoria. We certainly hope so. Watch this space.

Substantial Initiatives

  • In March 2015 Labor announced it would develop an “Energy Efficiency and Productivity Strategy”. This is now due in early 2016. More

  • Labor has legislated for an increase and extension to the Victorian Energy Efficiency Target. More

  • Labor has cancelled contracts for construction of the East-West Link.

  • Labor made a series of public transport commitments including removing 50 level crossings, 24-hour public transport at the weekend, extension of the South Morang train line, a commitment to build the Melbourne Metro Rail project and free trams in the CBD. The funding detail for many of these commitments has yet to be released.

  • Labor has commenced a process to ban e-waste from landfill, and will work with local councils to ensure recycling services are available.

Small But Useful Initiatives

  • Labor launched an online energy price comparison tool to assist households to identify the lowest cost electricity, gas or solar offer, and is developing a Victorian Residential Efficiency Scorecard.

NOTE: As these commitments are delivered they may have greater environmental benefits and move into the ‘substantial’ or ‘transformative’ categories above.

 

Protect and restore Victoria’s natural environment

The following is a list of actions taken so far by the Andrews Government, categorised according to whether they are transformative, substantive, or small but useful.

Click on each category to see the list

Transformative Initiatives

  • The Andrews Government is currently reviewing a large number of policy areas, including in relation to climate change, energy efficiency, water, clean energy, coal and biodiversity. Any or all of these reviews could deliver transformative outcomes for Victoria. We certainly hope so. Watch this space.

Substantial Initiatives

  • The Andrews Government has allocated an extra $10 million for river bank restoration in 2015-2016, and $3 million for the Thomson River. A strategy to “improve our riparian land and riverways”- the Regional Riparian Action Plan has yet to be released. More

  • Labor established an industry taskforce for logging in eastern Victoria, with the terms of reference released in late November 2015. This could be the first step in delivering large-scale forest protection in the Central Highlands and East Gippsland. More

  • Labor successfully legislated to remove the government’s ability to grant 99 year leases in national parks. More

  • Labor legislated the permanent removal of cattle from the Alpine National Park and the River Red Gum National Park. More

  • Labor has commenced reviews of the Flora and Fauna Guarantee (FFG) Act and institute a “state-wide biodiversity strategy”.

Small But Useful Initiatives

  • In a pre-election statement, Labor’s then shadow Treasurer Tim Pallas committed to exploring the ideas of building links between a heathy environment and a healthy economy as outlined by the Future Economy Group. This has yet to progress significantly.

  • Labor has commenced the first State of the Bay report process to monitor the health of coasts, bays and waterways.

  • Labor has taken initial steps towards a Marine and Coastal Act to combine all management and protections under a single act. A new Expert Panel has been established.

  • Discussions have commenced on incorporating Anglesea Heath into the Otway National Park. Additionally, Labor has introduced legislation for a new Canadian State Park and new protections to Hanging Rock.

  • Labor has committed to introducing a Yarra River Protection Act, and creating a new trust to standardise planning controls along the Yarra. This process has commenced.

  • Labor commenced a review of the Native Vegetation regulations.

NOTE: As these commitments are delivered they may have greater environmental benefits and move into the ‘substantial’ or ‘transformative’ categories above.

 

Going backwards

 

  • In April and May 2015, the Andrews Government issued four new coal exploration licences in Gippsland. More In response to community concern, Energy Minister D’Ambrosio took personal control over new coal licence approvals and commenced an independent review of the Energy and Earth Resources branch of her department. More

  • Water Minister Lisa Neville has opposed further water buy-backs for Victoria’s northern rivers, wetlands and River Red Gum national parks as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan by supporting the Commonwealth government’s cap on water buy-backs.

    Additionally, Minister Neville has publicly supported changing legislation to limit the ability of the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder to trade water to deliver better environmental water outcomes as part of the Murray-Darling Basin
    Plan. More

Note: The Andrews Government has initiated a large number of reviews and processes. The results of these processes, in terms of policy, actions and funding, will be reported in Enviro-Tracker once they are complete.

Think we've missed something? Send us an email and let us know.

What needs to happen

If Victoria is to be a leader, the Andrews Government should should act with urgency and deliver a credible plan to create a pollution-free Victoria economy, with a rapid transition from dirty coal to clean energy. Check out our Six Steps to Climate Leadership report for more detail. This report sets out six ambitious yet achievable steps required for leadership on climate change in Victoria, including ending all coal exploration and ruling out coal exports.

On energy efficiency, Environment Victoria expects the Andrews Government to deliver a comprehensive plan for cutting our carbon pollution and saving power in our homes and business.

The Andrews Government also needs a plan for our rivers that ensures they get their fair share of water and are not trashed by cattle. This will need to include stronger commitments to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, including buying back water to replenish rivers. Finally, they should end logging in high-conservation value native forests and recognise the carbon value of natural ecosystems with a comprehensive plan to protect and restore Victoria’s biodiversity.

Two years in...

Read our recent blog post on the progress of the Andrews government below. A more comprehensive report will follow early in 2017.

Read