Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Melbourne for raising the issue, which is of concern not only to people in Victoria but also to anyone who values our national park system across Australia. There are three different points of relevance to my portfolio. The first two are statutory obligations under the EPBC Act. The Victorian government did not notify my department prior to the introduction of cattle to the Alpine National Park. We are seeking information from the Victorian department as to the reasons they decided not to make that notification. Whether they should have or not is something I cannot judge until I receive the departmental advice. If it is found that they should have referred it, that in and of itself does not mean that they have broken federal environmental law in having the cattle there. There will then be a stage of further advice where I will have to consider whether or not federal environmental law has been broken. On each of those two issues I have to deal with the contents of the act and the contents of the act alone, and I cannot judge any of that until I receive my departmental advice.

A separate aspect, though, is the role that I have as federal environment minister, simply as an advocate for the environment in Australia, in deciding whether or not federal law has been breached. I say in the strongest possible terms to the Victorian government that, whether they have breached federal law or not, we are talking about a national park, not a farm. We are talking about a national park that is there for the preservation of native species.

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