Beyond Croydon District
Some of Victoria’s biggest environmental decisions are made at State level, and if elected I would be asked to vote on them.
On each, my test is the same: is public money being spent well, are people being told the full story, and are communities and workers part of the solution?
Biodiversity 2037
Restore habitat
Recover endangered species
Victoria has a long-term plan, Biodiversity 2037, to halt the decline of native plants and animals. As of June 2021, 1,991 species were listed as threatened in Victoria, and the Auditor-General reports that 28 per cent of them are critically endangered.
In 2021 the Auditor-General found that the department had advised the Government it needed at least $196.4 million over four years to deliver the plan’s priorities, and the Government provided $86.3 million. The Auditor-General found the funding fell significantly short, and that the department couldn’t demonstrate it was halting the decline of threatened species.
I support properly funding the plan and transparent annual reporting on progress against its targets. Funding should go to practical action that protects and restores habitat and helps recover critically endangered species, with clear evidence that the investment is working.
Sources
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Victorian Auditor-General’s Office, Protecting Victoria’s Biodiversity (October 2021), audit.vic.gov.au.
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Victorian Government, Protecting Victoria’s Environment – Biodiversity 2037 (2017), environment.vic.gov.au/biodiversity.
Native forest logging
Appropriate safeguards
Targeted restoration
Victoria ended commercial native forest logging in State forests on 1 January 2024. But ABC reporting in July 2026 highlighted environmental groups’ concerns about the removal and sale of native timber through forest and fire-management work, which the Government says is not logging.
Research by Australian National University scientists has also found that 19.2 per cent of the areas logged between 1980 and 2019 in their Central Highlands study area (8,030 of 41,819 hectares) failed to regenerate naturally.
I support:
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Stronger environmental safeguards and independent oversight of forest and fire-management works that remove native vegetation or habitat, with transparent reporting on native timber removal.
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Reviewing any remaining pathways for commercial native forest harvesting, to make sure they’re consistent with the decision to end native forest logging.
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Targeted restoration of forests damaged by past logging, particularly where they’ve failed to regenerate, with funding directed to where it will do the most good.
Sources
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VicForests, “Announcement: native timber harvesting to cease by 1 January 2024”, vicforests.com.au.
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Stuchbery, M., “Environmental groups say Victoria’s state forests being logged ‘by stealth’”, ABC News, 10 July 2026.
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Evans, M.J., Taylor, C. and Lindenmayer, D., “Logging devastated Victoria’s native forests – and new research shows 20% has failed to grow back”, ANU Research and Innovation news.
Great Forest National Park
Securing our water supply
Tourism for regional areas
Most of Melbourne’s drinking water comes from mountain ash forest catchments in the Yarra Ranges and Central Highlands. Some, like the Upper Yarra, O’Shannassy and Maroondah catchments, are already protected in the Yarra Ranges National Park. Others, like the Thomson catchment, which feeds Melbourne’s largest reservoir, are mainly State forest. Forest cover protects the soil and keeps water clean as it flows into our reservoirs.
The proposed Great Forest National Park would give stronger, permanent protection to the most important remaining forest, including parts of the Thomson catchment. National parks aren’t about locking people out: this one is built around recreation and tourism, with walking, cycling, camping, horse riding and scenic driving less than two hours from Melbourne, and nature-based tourism that supports regional jobs and businesses.
Support for new national parks isn’t partisan. A 2024 statewide survey of 1,518 Victorian voters by RedBridge Group, for the Victorian National Parks Association and The Wilderness Society, found 80 per cent support creating new national parks, including 72 per cent of Coalition supporters, 89 per cent of Labor voters and 94 per cent of Greens voters. The survey was commissioned by conservation groups and asked about new national parks in general, not this park specifically, but the results are consistent across regions and parties.
The forests are also home to Victoria’s faunal emblem, the critically endangered Leadbeater’s Possum, including a small lowland population of around 35 at Yellingbo, not far from Croydon. Existing protections haven’t been enough to halt the decline of either the possum or its forests, and the Government still hasn’t committed to the park.
Protection on paper only is not protection at all. The park must be properly funded and well managed, including investment in habitat restoration and appropriate fire management. It must also remain open and welcoming, with recreational access a central commitment, not an afterthought.
Sources
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Friends of Leadbeater’s Possum, “About Leadbeater’s Possum”, leadbeaters.org.au
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Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action, “Lowland Leadbeater’s Possum”, environment.vic.gov.au
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Parks Victoria, Yarra Ranges National Park, park note
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Melbourne Water, “Thomson Reservoir”, melbournewater.com.au
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Upper Yarra Star Mail, “Minister drops hint that Great Forest National Park proposal set to be ignored”, 5 July 2025
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RedBridge Group, Victorian Great Forest National Park survey, prepared for The Wilderness Society and the Victorian National Parks Association (October 2024; n = 1,518)