The Great Forest National Park (GFNP) is a community-led initiative to create a new national park in Victoria's Central Highlands close to Melbourne.
Professor David Lindenmeyer, David Attenborough and Jane Goodall all strongly support this proposal.
This new national park would protect the critically endangered Leadbeaters Possum (Fairy Possum) which Professor Lindenmeyer has stated is on track towards extinction with the ongoing logging of its forest habitat.
In addition, the GFNP would protect native forests that provide much of Melbourne's water supply, remembering that we recently experienced a 10 year drought.
I fully support the GFNP. If elected, I will do everything I can in the Victorian parliament to get this new national park proclaimed.
I asked Graham Watt (current Liberal MP) at the Burwood early voting centre on Friday 21/11 if he supports the new Great Forest National Park. He told me that he doesn't, nor does the Denis Napthine LNP government. He asked me "do Leadbeaters possums taste nice?"
By contrast, Gavin Ryan, the Labor Candidate has provided me with the following statement:
"Our party continues to work with experts and local communities on the best strategies to protect Victoria's threatened species in developing our national parks and environment policy. In terms of the Great Forest National Park proposal, Labor has been working with stakeholders about protecting the natural heritage of this area.
Labor's record is a strong one having created over 150,000 hectares of national park in our last term in government - protecting Victoria's River Red Gum Forests and creating the Great Otway National Park.
It is my view that we should create a Great Forest National Park to protect precious old growth forests present from Kinglake through to the Baw Baws and north-east up to Eildon, and the threatened species that reside within them including the Leadbeater's Possum. These habitats and animal communities need to be linked as we suffer the consequences of human induced climate change. Animals and plants will adapt and move and this National Park will allow them the best chance of adapting rather than being made extinct in small localised and isolated communities.
Mountain Ash forests store tremendous amounts of carbon and will act as a great carbon sink and protect our water yields from these catchments. A Great Forest National Park creates new, sustainable economic opportunities as well and means an economic boost for regional Victoria particularly in communities such as Marysville.
If elected, I will be pushing for a Labor Government to create the Great Forest National Park."
Professor David Lindenmeyer, David Attenborough and Jane Goodall all strongly support this proposal.
This new national park would protect the critically endangered Leadbeaters Possum (Fairy Possum) which Professor Lindenmeyer has stated is on track towards extinction with the ongoing logging of its forest habitat.
In addition, the GFNP would protect native forests that provide much of Melbourne's water supply, remembering that we recently experienced a 10 year drought.
I fully support the GFNP. If elected, I will do everything I can in the Victorian parliament to get this new national park proclaimed.
I asked Graham Watt (current Liberal MP) at the Burwood early voting centre on Friday 21/11 if he supports the new Great Forest National Park. He told me that he doesn't, nor does the Denis Napthine LNP government. He asked me "do Leadbeaters possums taste nice?"
By contrast, Gavin Ryan, the Labor Candidate has provided me with the following statement:
"Our party continues to work with experts and local communities on the best strategies to protect Victoria's threatened species in developing our national parks and environment policy. In terms of the Great Forest National Park proposal, Labor has been working with stakeholders about protecting the natural heritage of this area.
Labor's record is a strong one having created over 150,000 hectares of national park in our last term in government - protecting Victoria's River Red Gum Forests and creating the Great Otway National Park.
It is my view that we should create a Great Forest National Park to protect precious old growth forests present from Kinglake through to the Baw Baws and north-east up to Eildon, and the threatened species that reside within them including the Leadbeater's Possum. These habitats and animal communities need to be linked as we suffer the consequences of human induced climate change. Animals and plants will adapt and move and this National Park will allow them the best chance of adapting rather than being made extinct in small localised and isolated communities.
Mountain Ash forests store tremendous amounts of carbon and will act as a great carbon sink and protect our water yields from these catchments. A Great Forest National Park creates new, sustainable economic opportunities as well and means an economic boost for regional Victoria particularly in communities such as Marysville.
If elected, I will be pushing for a Labor Government to create the Great Forest National Park."
I have registered two how to vote cards - one is "split" giving voters an option to direct their preference to either Labor before Liberal or Liberal before Labor. The other if for Labor before Liberal only. Following Gavin's statement of support for the Great Forest National Park I will now only hand out the latter.
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