Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What a pleasure it has been today to hear members of this parliament speaking about the issues in their electorate, the things that concern them, the things that matter to the Australians they represent. It is an honour for me to stand here and be on duty today with you when members of parliament are making such presentations. I identify with the remarks from the member for Canberra in regard to violence against women, as each member of this parliament does. You have seen the results of that over these last few years as the issue has grown in importance.

I was lucky enough to be invited to an erosion project that had some federal government funding through the Caring for our Country program. It is being undertaken by the Mt Worth and District Landcare group. It is a joint effort, as all land care is. I arrived for the morning tea and was welcomed by Rob Waddell from the area of Seaview, Strzelecki and Tetoora. The morning tea was at the Tetoora hall and we were able to not only have a cup of tea with Rob Waddell and his beautiful daughter but view a short film that showed how much work had been done in land care in that area of the Strzeleckis. It was rather remarkable, as was the new technology filmed by filmmaker Tim Rowse. The session was presented by Paul Strickland. Paul Strickland is into practically everything I go to around my area these days.

It fantastic to be there and see the absolute enthusiasm of the people gathered on a Saturday morning to make a difference to this country and the environment through Landcare. Every one of us, wherever we go, sees Landcare projects that have been going on for years. They are one of the greatest investments that this country has ever made—restoring and repairing landscapes, valleys, landslips and road slips and all of the things that we have caused in our clearing of land that should never have been cleared in the first place, including in the Strzeleckis. These dedicated people were there on a Saturday morning to learn more and to have a look at what has actually happened with land care in the Strzeleckis.

Then Dr Silvia Pongracic got up. Silvia was fantastic to listen to. She had been part of a women's leadership program in 2014. As part of the study, Silvia mapped what Landcare projects had been undertaken by Mt Worth and District Landcare Group over the years. It was really, really good to hear this woman stand up and say, 'I've got children; I'm trying to manage this and manage that,' but at the same time she was able to do all this work to map just how much work Landcare has done in this area of Strzelecki, Seaview and Tetoora.

In 2012, Cara Brammar studied how birds responded to ageing vegetation on private properties. That might be boring for you, Mr Deputy Speaker, but, at the time, Cara was an honours student at La Trobe University. Cara is continuing to study the role that different types of land use have for bird presence and activity for her PhD studies. She is studying at Deakin University. Cara's work will assist in future land use policy. That morning I was not able to stay for Cara's presentation, but I did have a chance to talk to her. She was going to talk about the findings from her studies that were very interesting, and then they were going to visit and have a look at Cam and Margaret McDonald's farm and Lydia and Shahriar's—these properties were a mile and a half away from where I was.

I am in the absolute beauty of 14 kilometres up into the hills, out from the back of Warragul, in my electorate. There are major problems with erosion et cetera out there. I talked to these people about the way they have planted and the way they have gone about it. A lot of the properties out there are no longer viable—they are 120 acres—so Rob Waddell and his family are nurserymen as well now on their farm. I said, 'How are you going?' He said, 'We're making a very good living out of what we're doing.' They are propagating nearly all native plants, and these plants are going all over Victoria and all over Australia for Landcare use and for other uses on farms.

I honour these people who do such a good job on our behalf. Every day they are out there making a difference. They are changing our environment. They are cleaning the air. They are making greater opportunities for their children into the future.

Question agreed to.

Federa tion Chamber adjourned at 13:07