Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I take issue with the member for Braddon, the parliamentary secretary. It was Labor in the 2010 budget that cut $11 million out of the budget for Landcare. So this side of politics is very supportive of Landcare and of all the good work it does. It was that side of politics which wanted to cut the money out of the budget most unfairly. Landcare is a very important issue, and I am sure it has bipartisan support, but sometimes the bipartisan support is not as forthcoming from that side of politics as it is from this.

Last week was National Landcare Week, a commemoration of the extraordinary contribution by volunteers to practical environmental projects throughout Australia. Landcare Australia was formed by the federal government in 1989 to manage public awareness and run a sponsorship campaign for the Decade of Landcare. 'From the farm to the city, landcare is for everyone' was the motto for Landcare Week—and a motto Landcare Australia works towards achieving. The phrase 'landcare is for everyone' has been turned into a specific campaign known as LIFE. It utilises three-dimensional animation to illustrate the diversity of Landcare and explain the different ways people can get involved to preserve the environment. This is an organisation which works to connect people, communities, business and industry to work together to protect the environment using practical measures.

In 2010-11 Landcare Australia provided funding for 850 on-ground projects throughout the country in addition to supporting awareness initiatives and recognising the work of farmers and volunteers. Mr Acting Deputy Speaker you know and I know just how much farmers need support and protection in this great nation of ours. Unfortunately, some of those people on the other side of politics need to be constantly reminded of the job that farmers do, and that is to grow the food that feeds our nation. I think sometimes they just forget that important fact.

Murrumbidgee Landcare covers my electorate of Riverina as well as neighbouring electorates. There are 15 Landcare networks within the Murrumbidgee catchment, with 140 Landcare groups with about 2,000 volunteers. What an amazing statistic! Murrumbidgee Landcare stretches from the high rainfall environments of the Murrumbidgee River's headwaters in the Snowy Mountains to where it joins the Murray River near Balranald, covering a total of 84,000 square kilometres. Land uses in this area range from grazing to dairying, from broadacre cropping to irrigation, intensive agriculture and horticulture, small area holdings and urban land holdings. There is no more important food bowl area in the nation. My colleague here from Western Australia might disagree—and she does not even know what I am going to say—but the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area grows the food that helps feed our nation and other nations. Indeed, it contributes $5 billion worth of exports to our balance of payments. That is a tremendous statistic, and we should always pay great respect to the MIA in the Riverina.

The Riverina has a range of environmental challenges, stretching from the effects of several years of drought through to recent flooding events. Murrumbidgee Landcare works to incorporate the sharing of knowledge about sustainable agriculture, revegetating the local reserve, maintaining the primary school nursery, collectively addressing the feral pest problem, dealing with erosion, remediating wetlands and monitoring waterways. With the number of volunteers that the organisation has, if government had to pay for all of this work it just would not get done. The fact that Landcare is happily getting in and doing the job with commitment and dedication speaks volumes for what that organisation means and represents to this great nation.

The Landcare groups also emphasise the importance of the land and the local environment which support and sustain their communities and in which the community has a whole investment—an investment which reaches beyond property boundaries. This importance has been particularly apparent during the Murray-Darling Basin Plan meetings which I have attended in the Murrumbidgee Irrigation Area, which falls within the Murrumbidgee catchment. People in these communities have a great appreciation and respect for the environment. There are no better stewards of the environment than farmers. They have a true understanding of how the land provides for the community. That is why it is so critical to have a Murray-Darling Basin Plan which incorporates a triple bottom line which will maintain a healthy, sustainable river system into the future whilst also protecting the livelihood of the people in these important regional communities.

Landcare organisations are not only limited to adult volunteers. In Wagga Wagga, students at Wagga Wagga Public School have formed their own Landcare group and have begun water bug monitoring in the Wollundry Lagoon near the school. What a marvellous initiative—kids getting involved in a practical way in the environment under the banner and auspices of Landcare. It is a fantastic initiative to teach children about the importance of the environment and what they can do to help protect the environment for their future.

I recently met with Mr Peter Beal, the secretary of the Narrandera Landcare group, to discuss the group's Rocky Water Holes bridge project.

This is a community driven, collaborative project to construct a pedestrian-and-bicycle-only bridge over the main canal in the Lake Talbot precinct at Narrandera. The bridge will link and enhance the usage of existing walking tracks as part of the Narrandera Shire Council's strategic plan to develop the potential of tourism and healthy living in Narrandera and the Riverina at large. The bridge will also provide access to the koala reserve—there is a colony of koalas that has been protected and monitored near Narrandera—as well as Lake Talbot, the Murrumbidgee River and the nearby Narrandera Wetlands, another Narrandera Landcare Group initiative.

The bridge is also significant as it is to be constructed from an old, rare 1943 Australian Army panel bridge. It is a great initiative of Landcare volunteers working with the local council to make the local environment more accessible for the community and visitors to the area. I look forward to visiting the bridge when it is constructed and open for use.

The Wagga Wagga Urban Landcare Group is also extremely active in the community. It holds regular tree-planting days, which often involve other community groups, the Wagga Wagga City Council and many school children. These plantings are priorities for the lower discharge areas and high recharge areas. The Landcare group also worked in collaboration with Wagga Wagga City Council on a $3 million urban salinity program. Members of the group are often called upon to lead tours of urban salinity sites, and have created an extensive web based salt-tour guide of Wagga Wagga, which people can download for their own use.

There was a lot of concern about urban salinity in an near the Wagga Wagga showground—so much so that there was great fear for the showground and the suburban houses around it. But Landcare, in conjunction with the council, were able to assess the situation and put proactive measures in place. Now that situation has eased, much to the gratitude of nearby residents, who obviously have a lot of investment in their homes, and of the Wagga Wagga Show Society, one of the city's most important institutions, which has been there for decades.

Landcare Australia, and all the individual groups across Australia, play an important role in managing our country's environmental and natural resources sustainably. I commend them on the great work that they do and also acknowledge the many, many hours—the innumerable hours—and the effort put in by volunteers in every community, including the Riverina, to help those communities in Australia be sustainable today, and for future generations.

Finally, I urge continued bipartisan support for Landcare and its ongoing inclusion in future budgets.

See this speech in context