Labor's Budget lacks environmental leadershipWednesday, May 05, 2010 Labor’s cynical election Budget has shown that Labor’s interest in the environment extends only to a disappointing array of rehashed and recycled commitments, Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change Mary Wooldridge said today. Despite a decade-long drought, devastating bushfires and growing levels of waste and pollution, Labor is spending less on sustainable water supply and less on waste management. Another major blow is the absence of a comprehensive plan to tackle climate change when the Rudd Government has abandoned leadership in this key area. The Climate Change Bill was promised almost four years ago and the long-overdue Climate Change White Paper is still missing without any sign of being funded. "Environment groups have rightly branded this Budget as a missed opportunity and it is disappointing that Victoria remains without a vision or plan to respond to climate change," Ms Wooldridge said. Budget figures also reveal that John Brumby has allowed the degradation of our environmental assets, with one-third of Victoria’s bay assets in poor condition and our park assets not faring much better. Even John Brumby’s free entry into Victoria’s national parks has been revealed as nothing more than a cynical election year sweetener, with free entry guaranteed for one year only. Budget measures record useless targets for bureaucratic output and deadlines, but fail to track key measures such as the Government’s greenhouse gas emissions or whether the Brumby Government is complying with its renewable energy target. "John Brumby is more interested in cynical election-year posturing than providing a plan for our precious environment," Ms Wooldridge said.
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