More than 18 months after coming to office the Baillieu government is struggling to release a statement outlining its environmental agenda, with an attempt earlier this year aborted.
The state government is believed to be considering whether to release a policy statement to clarify its environmental priorities.
The Age believes a statement was originally planned to be launched before this year’s state budget but never eventuated.
The statement was unlikely to include new policies, but rather to act as an umbrella document for existing initiatives such as a review of the state’s native vegetation laws.
The statement was to be broken down by priorities, including management of parks and public land; practical local action and community partnerships; best practice environmental legislation; and healthy and productive landscapes.
Other priorities are thought to have included resource efficiency and waste management; managing bushfire risk; developing adaptation responses to potential impacts of a changing climate; and ensuring responsive services delivery from government agencies.
The document was not going to refer to water and planning issues except on public land, agriculture, or energy, except efficiency and renewables, as they were considered covered by other portfolios. References to climate change mitigation were not to be included because it was considered a Commonwealth responsibility.
The Baillieu government is facing an advertising campaign criticising its environmental record from the state’s principal green group, Environment Victoria, which has placed ads in local papers.
The Coalition also did not release an environment platform before the 2010 election.
A spokeswoman for Environment Minister Ryan Smith did not respond directly to questions about a future priorities statement, saying instead the government had made ”numerous statements about the work it is doing to protect Victoria’s environment”.
”We’re getting on with what we said we would do: recycling more waste from landfill, harvesting stormwater, cleaning up our waterways and beaches, preventing bushfire risk and boosting support to organisations such as Landcare to achieve real environmental benefits Victorians can see,” she said.
Opposition environment spokeswoman Lisa Neville said: ”No statement is going to con Victorians that this government cares about Victoria’s environment. They have already wound back environmental protections in Victoria that have been in place for decades and supported by governments of all persuasions.”
The priorities statement is believed to have first been raised during an environmental stakeholders meeting held by Water and Agriculture Minister Peter Walsh in December.
In an email to participants after the round table Mr Walsh wrote, ”The request for government to deliver an environment statement to help clarify future directions is something I will discuss with my colleague, the Minister for Environment [Ryan Smith].”
It is also believed a forests and parks strategy has been considered that would encourage more community use of forests and parks.
