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Darren Chester calls for practical local action in environmental management with more boots on the ground

Darren Chester, Federal Member for Gippsland, urges a more practical approach to environmental management, prioritising local action over global emissions reduction and calling for more boots on the ground.

By news@gippsland - 24th March 2023 - Back to News

Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester says governments are failing to deal with the real environmental issues facing regional Australia. Speaking in Federal Parliament this week, Mr Chester called for a broader environmental debate which wasn't focused solely on reducing emissions. "We need a balanced approach to ensuring we achieve our energy security and affordability needs and delivering the environmental outcomes that Australians expect," Mr Chester told Parliament.

Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester called for a broader environmental debate not solely focused on emissions reduction when speaking in Parliament this week

Local environmental action

Mr Chester said, "I accept that climate change is a global challenge and we must play our part as a responsible nation, but the other environmental challenges, the real environmental challenges we face everyday demand local action.

"What I am talking about is practical environmental action in this nation. The need for more boots and less suits - that's more boots on the ground doing practical environmental work and less suits in the cities making excuses for why things can't be done."

Environmental conservation

Mr Chester said that the environmental conversation needed to also focus on the practical environmental management needed and not just the global issues of emissions and climate change. "There needs to be a focus on pest animals and weed control, the need to improve biodiversity and tackle erosion and riparian vegetation - things like hazard reduction in our forests and critical asset protection around our towns and catchments and important infrastructure."

"What I'm seeing as I travel throughout Gippsland is farmers, landholders and people living in towns who are deeply concerned about the impact of feral animals - feral deer, feral pigs - in their communities. These issues demand greater attention in this place in partnership with the landowners and the state governments."

"We only need to think about issues such as foot-and-mouth disease and the risk it poses to the agriculture sector if it were to get loose in Australia.
"Feral pigs would spread this disease through the country and we now have feral pics showing up in northern Victoria in my electorate of Gippsland." Mr Chester said.

Regional environmental advocates

Mr Chester added, "It also has to include a serious conversation about a world-class and sustainable native timber industry in regions like Victoria, where the industry is under direct threat right now by Premier Dan Andrews.

"I would argue the true environmentalists in this nation live in regional communities. They're the people who are out there getting their hands dirty joining Landcare, Coastcare, doing feral animal control and planting trees.
"Unfortunately in Victoria the workforce for public land management has been gutted by a government which continues to invest in more suits and less boots.

"I believe the environmental debate has become too simplistic and obsessed with emissions and climate debate at the expense of far more complex conversations about natural resource management and issues regional Australians are dealing with daily due to the failures to manage the natural environment appropriately." Mr Chester said.

Pictures from Darren Chester MP website.

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: news@gippsland.com