The Baillieu government has been accused of scrapping a $106 million program designed to help communities cut greenhouse gas emissions, prompting fresh claims it is walking away from climate change commitments.
Groups applying for grants from a Climate Communities Fund have been told the program has closed and their applications will not be assessed.
It is believed the government plans to re-direct the funding to waste and recycling programs.
The fund was set up last year under climate change legislation introduced by the Brumby government and passed with bipartisan support, replacing an existing Sustainability Fund.
Andrew Herington, a former Labor adviser who worked on the Climate Change Act, said if the Baillieu government was rejecting the state’s climate white paper and legislation it should say so publicly.
The legislation includes a target of a 20 per cent cut in Victorian emissions compared with 2000 levels by 2020 - a goal Premier Ted Baillieu and senior ministers have since described as ”aspirational”.
Mr Herington said the government had signalled in a newspaper advertisement last month that it would change how the fund would be spent, but had concealed its plan by referring to the program by its old name, the Sustainability Fund.
”It is very disappointing to see the Coalition drop their pre-election support for climate change programs and scrap this funding,” he said. ”To adopt a new policy the government should release a new white paper and amend the Climate Change Act through Parliament so there can be a proper public debate.”
Asked why the climate fund was being wound up, government spokeswoman Lauren Bradley said Victorians expected their tax dollars would be spent on programs that ”achieve the balance between tangible environmental outcomes and value for money”.
She said while legislation last year required the program to be called the Climate Communities Fund, Climate Change Minister Ryan Smith had told government agency Sustainability Victoria to keep operating it under its old name. She said there was no practical difference between the two funds.
The South East Councils Climate Change Alliance, which represents eight municipalities, said community groups felt they were being told that their projects were not important. ”It is difficult to understand when what we need is a breadth of community support across a whole range of areas to respond to climate change,” executive officer Greg Hunt said.
Cardinia Catchment Landcare Group president Glenn McMillan said a Sustainability Victoria project officer had encouraged him to develop a proposal for a community centre with solar panels, a solar hot water system, passive heating and cooling technology and water tanks.
Up to four months of volunteer time was devoted to the application, but it was rejected without being assessed.
The changes to the climate fund comes as the government reviews Sustainability Victoria’s role and programs and searches for a new chief executive to replace outgoing Anita Roper, who has resigned.
