Andrew's government to deliver unemployment double whammy to Gippsland?

In mid-October, with the ink barely dry on these draft proposals and mid-way through their public consultation phase, the Government suddenly adopted one of the draft proposals in announcing that it had directed VEAC to undertake a new investigation into the conservation values of State forests. This represents a disturbing subversion of due process seemingly to further a political agenda. Interestingly, the notice of this new investigation sits on the VEAC website alongside a photograph of a Leadbeater’s Possum.

VEAC’s new investigation of State forest values has been conveniently directed to report alongside the completion of the FIT process during February 2017. It is not too hard to imagine where this is headed – if the FIT process doesn’t lead to new national parks, then surely the VEAC process will. Indeed VEAC have never conducted a public land assessment that didn’t result in new parks or reserves.

VEAC lost considerable credibility over its River Red Gum Forests Investigation from 2005-08. It is clearly unable to fully investigate issues objectively from first-principles, but is directed by its political master to fashion ‘investigations’ to create outcomes which provide an aura of academic support for pre-ordained policy directions. This was evident from its determination to dismiss local concerns, including those of three Shire Councils who were part of consortium of 25 community groups which expended voluntary and paid effort valued at $0.5 million in suggesting alternative ways forward and community-acceptable compromises which VEAC simply ignored without explanation.

It seems that the Victorian Government is determined to declare unwanted and unwarranted new national parks although questions remain about where and to what extent they will hit the social and economic bottom line of Victoria’s rural and regional communities.

Lately there has been much hand-wringing amongst the intelligensia as to why so many voters could become sufficiently disillusioned with conventional politics that they could rush to support maverick candidates such as Hanson in Australia and Trump in the US. Those who profess to be bewildered by this phenomenum should visit regional and rural communities rendered powerless by the determination of urban-centric Governments to ignore sensible local concerns to prosecute a political ideology which largely conflates environmental awareness with myths and half-truths promulgated mainly by arms-length activists with limited in-depth understanding of the issues.