Darren Chester (Gippsland, National Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Roads and Regional Transport) Share this | Hansard source

In concluding this debate, may I say this has been an excellent debate and I congratulate all members who have spoken, including the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities and the Parliamentary Secretary for Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and the members for Hume, Hinkler, Melbourne, McEwen, New England, Dawson and the Riverina. What we have seen this morning is proof of the passion that issues of natural resource management still generate in this place and, in particular, the passion that the issue of the mountain cattlemen generates. I thank all members for their contributions, even those I do not necessarily agree with, and for the way they took on this debate and raised their points of view.

I want particularly to comment on the member for McMillan's contribution. The member for McMillan spoke very eloquently about the cultural heritage of the mountain cattlemen that we are talking about today. He made a very important contribution regarding what direction we are going to take in natural resource management in this country in the future—whether we are going to recognise that active land management involving people on the ground is the way forward for natural resource management, rather than the 'lock it up and leave it' approach which has been dictated by governments in various jurisdictions in recent times.

At the outset I pleaded with the minister to show respect. He tried hard but he did, in the end, whip himself into an indignant frenzy about whether or not it was appropriate for the mountain cattlemen to make a donation to a political party. I encouraged him to give it his best shot and he certainly did. Unfortunately, in the minister's attack he suggested quite strongly—and I hope this was not his intention—that there was some kind of ulterior motive involved behind the mountain cattlemen making a donation to a political party in an open and transparent manner. I hope that is not what he was intending to say, but that is what it sounded like when he was speaking. He was imputing improper motives to members of the National Party and in doing so he was showing enormous disrespect to the cattlemen. As I said in my comments to the House, quite clearly and in a very open and transparent manner—and the minister congratulated me for my honesty—the Liberal Party and the National Party had pre-existing policies relating to the mountain cattlemen well before the 2010 election. It is spurious and it is a red herring to try to link the two and suggest there is some level of cash for comment, as the minister himself did, and as the member for McEwen did later on. I do not think that either member covered themselves in glory by trying to suggest there is some sort of ulterior motive on the part of either the members involved or the cattlemen themselves.

For the record, in answer to the member for McEwen's comment that I am 'on the charge for my buddies', I just want to say that I have no financial interest whatsoever in this issue and it is wrong to suggest that my opinion on this issue has been influenced in any way by friendships or financial donations to me or my party. I think you are wrong to make that suggestion. It was inappropriate and I took exception to the comment. Hence, I raised a point of order when the opportunity presented itself to me.

The minister said that the Labor Party is proud of its record on this issue. The fact is that the state Labor government kicked the cattlemen out of the high country on the back of a dodgy inquiry with preordained recommendations. When the high country burns next time and lives are lost, property is destroyed and native animals are scorched, I wonder whether members opposite are still going to be proud of their approach to the issue and the issue of natural resource management more generally.

Natural resource management in this nation is heading in the wrong direction. The member for Hume spoke about this. The member for New England also spoke very eloquently about this issue. We are going down the wrong path when it comes to natural resource management. 'Lock it up and leave it' is not an environmental policy; it is a recipe for disaster. This is the path we are heading down. If we follow the Greens down this ideological path, we will destroy this great environment that we have all stood here today and said we cherish. 'Lock it up and leave it' is not an environmental policy.

I welcome the vote today, just as the minister himself said he will welcome the vote, because we will put on the record where we all stand on this very important issue. The minister is nodding his head. I think it is important that members get to vote today on where they stand on this very important issue of natural resource management and whether they believe in practical and active land management. On this side when we vote today we will be demonstrating our respect for the Victorian coalition government and the mandate it received in 2010. We will also be respecting the mountain cattlemen and their families and their more than 150 years of active management of the high country. We will also be respecting the role mountain cattlemen can play in reducing the fuel load and in sustainable environmental management through grazing and prescribed burns. We will also be respecting the heritage of regional communities on both sides of the Great Dividing Range in Victoria.

The member for McEwen asked the question: who is Doug Treasure? Doug was a former President of the Mountain Cattlemen's Association of Victoria. Doug died this year. Doug campaigned for many years on behalf of his constituents in the Mountain Cattlemen's Association. Doug was a great man. He lived in Stratford and made an enormous contribution to active land management through his role with the Mountain Cattlemen's Association of Victoria. I assume that the member for McEwen just wanted to know who Doug Treasure was. That is who Doug Treasure was. Doug was a tremendous man who made a great contribution. He passed away earlier this year, and we in this place send our love to his family.

Today, in voting for this motion, we will demonstrate our respect for regional Australians and how they choose to live their lives. I thank the House.

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