Brett Whiteley (Braddon, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Green Army is one of this government's great success stories. It is a success for the environment, a success for the young people that take part in the program and a success for local communities that undertake practical grassroots environmental and conservation activities. This is real action to combat pollution and degradation of local environmental systems, not real action for more bureaucrats in a climate change department.

Before the election, the now Minister for the Environment and I promised one project for Braddon. After the election, I delivered five projects in the first round. These projects included sustainable recreation development of the Dial Range track; urban waterway clean-up at Kings Creek, Latrobe; limiting mountain bike weed dispersal into vulnerable bushland; Pig Island restoration of river foreshore and wetlands; and the Clayton Reserve burrowing crayfish habitat improvement project. The Clayton Reserve burrowing crayfish habitat improvement project is the first of those five projects to be completed. I congratulate all the young people involved in the project. You graduate with unique experience that will put you in a better position now to get gainful employment. You will have a new group of friends, and, most importantly, you have made a very real and tangible improvement to your local environment and community.

Round 3 of the program opens today, and I encourage all local governments and local conservation groups—and any groups—in Braddon to consider Green Army projects for the betterment of their young people and their community.