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Monday, July 26, 2010
John Brumby cannot be trusted to deliver on his environmental promises,
Shadow Environment Minister Mary Wooldridge said today.
“John Brumby and his government have a shameful history of making big
promises on the environment which are never delivered,” Ms Wooldridge
said.
“Today John Brumby released his Climate Change White Paper and in doing
so walked away from his 2006 commitments on greenhouse gas emissions. He
is now claiming he has a new target with no details on how he is going
to achieve it.
“He has failed to tell struggling Victorian families how much more they
will have to pay to turn on their lights, heat their homes and cook their
meals as a result of today’s announcement,” Ms Wooldridge said.
Labor’s record of failure and broken promises includes:
-
promising in 2006 to legislate
a target to reduce greenhouse emissions by 60 per cent by 2050 from 2000
levels – target has never been legislated;
- promising in 2002 to reduce greenhouse
gas emissions by seven per cent, or up to 8.3 million tonnes per year,
by 2010 – greenhouse gas emissions grew by 1.2 per cent between
2002 and 2008 (the last year for which figures are available); and
-
promising in 2002 to mandate
a minimum of 10 per cent renewable energy by 2016 – renewable energy still
accounts for only five per cent of Victoria’s energy generation, the same
share of generation as in 2000.
“More broadly on the environment, Victoria faces a biodiversity crisis
under John Brumby with our natural environment suffering from atrocious
neglect, with more than 40 per cent of plants and 30 per cent of native
animals either extinct or threatened,” Ms Wooldridge said.
“One-third of Victoria’s major streams are in poor or very poor condition
and two-thirds of Victoria’s wetlands have been lost or degraded.
“Labor cannot manage public land and our forests, reserves and parks are
choked with noxious weeds, swarming with feral animals and under threat
from fire because of a lack of fuel reduction burning.
“Given John Brumby’s dismal track record, today’s promises appear to
be more hot air from a tired and incompetent government.
“Victorians cannot trust John Brumby to deliver on the environment when
his record is one of failure and broken promises,” Ms Wooldridge said.
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