The level of disarray the State Government is in over its decision to end the native timber industry is outlined in an email received by VicForests staff this week.

“Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said four months after the announcement was made, the message to staff this week stated:

• The government has made no decisions about the future of VicForests, with a determination about the organisation’s future expected ‘later this year’.
• The Department of Energy, Environment and Climate Action is undertaking a review of VicForests functions and activities before it makes this decision.
• The review is considering how the skills and functions of VicForests staff can be utilised.
• The current Board of VicForests now consists of only the Chair and one member.

“This hardly looks like the decision to end the timber industry was well planned and thought out and reeks of a policy on the run if after four months, they have absolutely no idea what they are doing with their own staff.

“It is alarming that a government department has to undertake a ‘review’ into the functions and activities of another arm of government and its staff. Did they not know the work they did? What a waste of time and taxpayer money.

“While many have been working hard to get answers for the mill workers, contractors and those businesses involved in the industry, we should also not forget about the VicForests employees, who are also part of our community, know this is a sustainable industry and are facing similar uncertainty.

“This is what happens when you have Ministers in charge of portfolios they know nothing about and they refuse to come out and talk to workers in these sectors,” said Mr Bull.

Thursday, 7 September 2023

Piles of debris pushed up against private property fence lines after roadside clearing has been labelled “habitat” by the State Labor Government, which refuses to remove the obvious fire risk.

Having campaigned for the roadside debris to be cleared, Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said he was initially pleased to see work had started, but is appalled by this element of the outcome.

“What they have done is made the vertical fuel load a horizontal one and to state this is in line with the ‘Wildlife Management Plan relating to fauna habitat protection’.

“We have some property owners who were hit hard by the 2019/20 fires and have now had massive piles of flammable debris pushed up against their fence line. Did this government learn nothing from the last fire event, where these roadsides acted as wicks?

“In the Minister’s response she said ‘I am advised from a bushfire perspective, the primary contributors to bushfire behaviour and the main drivers of bushfire forward rates of spread and radiant heat output are fine fuels, which are fuels less than 6mm in diameter. At least 50% of the larger branches and logs – those greater than 10cm in diameter – at this location were required to be retained and positioned into non-impacted habitat near the clearance site. The placement of these logs and debris was done in conjunction with the zoologist onsite, is away from residential properties, and abuts the state forest.’

“I simply make two points. The debris is in very close proximity to private freehold and the Minister seems to show no understanding that a fire in these large logs will not only increase its intensity but can burn for weeks and then be the cause of reignition in the right conditions.

“I have no doubt that in a perfect world it may be good habitat for animals, but human life and wellbeing must be the priority in every decision and this has not occurred here.

“It should not matter what a zoologist thinks is good habitat, the bottom line is it has created a fuel load near private residences that should be removed – end of story.”

Caption: Roadside cleared vegetation pushed back into the bush and near properties along the Great Alpine Road.

Monday, 4 September 2023

Schools are struggling to pay for school camps, and camp operators are suffering due to lack of support from the State Government.

Gippsland East Nationals MP, Tim Bull, said the outcome of the recent teachers’ pay agreement means teachers must now be paid for their time on school camps, or given time off in lieu and, with minimal additional funding being provided, this was extremely problematic.

“No one would deny fair pay for hours worked, but what has happened is schools cannot afford to give teachers time off in lieu due to the teacher shortage, and then the paltry amount the government is offering for payment goes nowhere near covering the costs to schools.

“They are then left with the predicament of having to find funds they don’t have, or cut down on school camps. Some are choosing the latter and then that is impacting the viability of our school camp operators.

“I think almost every adult remembers the great experiences they had on school camps, which are an important part of the curriculum, and it should not be jeopardised by lack of government support,” said Mr Bull.

“It is completely unfair for government to have created this mess and left the financial burden on school budgets and school camp operators are suffering.

“To their credit, some schools are carrying the burden in the short term, but it is not sustainable long term, while others have already made the hard decision to cut down on camps.”

Mr Bull said it was particularly disadvantaging country schools.

“What we are finding is that instead of travelling long distances for camps, metropolitan schools are doing day excursions within school hours, so they do not blow their budget. However, if country schools want to take their students to the city, there is no way around the problem.

“I have called on the Minister to revisit this and ensure schools, students and school camp operators are not disadvantaged by her decision.”

Caption: Local school camp operators, such as Coonawarra Farm Resort in Glenaladale (pictured), are noticing a marked reduction in bookings particularly from metropolitan schools, due to the Andrews Labor Government’s changes to school camp funding.

Monday, September 4, 2023