Liberals' environment policy has gone AWOL

Despite months of talks, a consensus still hasn't been
reached for a new national park in the Central
Highlands to save Victoria's fauna emblem, the
Leadbeater's possum.

It's hard to believe it's been almost been 10 years to the day since the Victorian Liberals had a comprehensive environment policy.

While that might sound ridiculous in the context of global warming and other environmental woes, the sad reality is that an entire decade has passed since the state Liberals offered voters a detailed vision to tackle the challenges we currently face.

Spring Street diehards might recall that the last major election policy was dished out in 2006 (ahead of the poll Ted Baillieu ended up losing to Steve Bracks) and it even came with a neat little title: A Liberal Government Plan for a Sustainable Future. To the party's credit, it was pretty good, too.

Following in the footsteps of the environmental leadership showed under the Hamer government, Baillieu's Liberals promised big: to protect state forests and create new national parks; to conduct annual audits for public land maintenance; to design a statewide plan for recycled water and 10-star energy efficiency for Victorian households.

Read Farrah Tomazin’s comment in today’s Melbourne Age - “Liberals' environment policy has gone AWOL.”

Labor environment policy on federal approvals both 'yes' and 'no'

Labor is vowing if it wins the election that it will not revisit 'one-stop-shop' legislation that will state governments more say over environmental approvals.

The mining industry is unimpressed with the details so far, labelling it a missed opportunity to improve productivity and cut costs.

The Greens, however, support the commitment but say it does not go far enough.

The ALP's official environment policy includes a commitment to "retain Federal Government powers of approval under federal laws" and "re-establish the Federal Government's responsibility for protection of matters of national environmental significance".

Read the ABC Rural story - “Labor environment policy on federal approvals gets tick from Greens, ticks off mining industry.”