How do you plan to protect our coastline, sea life and parks in Goldstein?

Our Government has delivered $6 million in funding to Bayside Council to help them build the Elsternwick Park Nature Reserve – an urban sanctuary for residents and animals.

The reserve will help clean the water going into Port Phillip and will protect the health of our local beaches. We are also providing funding for foreshore restoration in Black Rock.

Encourage engagement by the community to maintain the areas abutting the coast.  This would include having enough bins for rubbish and ensuring they are regularly cleaned.

The greatest risk to our coastline and marine environment is climate change, causing sea level rise and more extreme weather events like floods and storm surges.

A good plan must be local, national and global and it must be put into action now as time is running out.

The Greens see climate action as the most important thing we can do to secure a safer place for our community in Goldstein and the environment we rely on. We have less than 10 years left to fix this.

The first thing to do is stop all new coal, oil and gas projects and rapidly shift to clean, renewable energy like solar and wind by 2030. We also need to adapt to the changing climate by protecting coastal areas at risk and making changes to the way we plan our urban development in Goldstein so our  suburbs are sustainable for the long term.

A third priority is for stronger environmental laws to protect our ecosystems from pollution and destruction. 

Labor acknowledges the nearly decade of mismanagement and inaction on protecting our coast and nature in general, that is why we have developed a $200 million program will help fund that work to make an even bigger impact, including by:

• Creating wetlands to slow water flow and filter stormwater before it reaches our rivers

• Citizen science and education projects for preschoolers and school age children

• Removing cement walls and returning them to natural riverbanks

• Revegetation and tree planting

Labor has also committed $11.7 million towards Elsternwick Park Nature Reserve. This transformative project will protect the natural environment and encourage biodiversity and provide an amazing nature reserve for the local community.

• Goldstein is famous for its magnificent beaches, as well as its beautiful parks and private gardens. These play host to a diverse array of wildlife – some of which is threatened.

• While there are excellent initiatives underway, such as Bayside Council’s plans to develop the Elsternwick Park Nature Reserve, as a unique local wetland and urban forest area (which I wholeheartedly endorse), there is aa lack of co-ordination between Councils and stakeholders throughout Victoria when it comes to the management of complex, cross-LGA environmental issues, including wildlife preservation, coastal erosion, and the effects of more frequent and severe storms.

• A cross-LGA, coordinated approach is also needed to address the issue of plastic pollution on our beaches and in our parks.

• While many issues related to local marine environment policy are a State responsibility, Commonwealth Acts provide important overarching requirements, including the Threatened Species Act and the Environmental Protection Biodiversity Conservation Act. Critically, these two acts need strengthening to provide increased protections. As with so many other sectors, the various bodies overseeing marine protection would also greatly benefit from strategic direction and coordination between various responsible agencies.

• These areas would also benefit from increased marine and coastal environmental grants programs for both climate change mitigation and resilience to climate change.

• I would advocate for Federal assistance for Bayside Council as they address coastal erosion, which is a problem for the entirety of the Bayside coastline, and is particularly acute at Dendy Beach.

• I would also be a strong supporter of other Bayside Council initiatives concerning environmental protection and amenity, including their advanced waste processing plans that will provide alternatives to landfill, reductions in packaging and waste minimisation, support for the rollout of additional electric vehicle charging stations, the restoration and reopening of the piers at Sandringham, Beaumaris, and Half Moon Bay, and improvements to water quality and bay health.

• I would encourage Federal funding for a long-term demonstration project at the Ricketts Point Marine Sanctuary and the other two Bay marine sanctuaries (Point Cook and Jawbone Marine Sanctuary) to establish best ways to control the overabundance of native sea urchins devastating areas of Port Phillip Bay, to help re-establish the natural biodiversity of the sanctuaries.

• Palaeontologists consider Beaumaris as a significant site due to the diversity and abundance of fossils found there. These fossils are from an age that experts consider underrepresented in Australia’s geological heritage. I would therefore advocate for the protection of ancient fossils at Beaumaris and the appropriate use of the site for educational purposes.

• I would be a strong supporter of Bayside Council’s recycled water pipeline – the Dingley, Sandringham, and Cheltenham Recycled Water Scheme, which provide recycled, Class A water for use in Bayside’s parks and gardens.

• Amenity is another issue that would benefit from cross-LGA and cross-departmental coordination. Advocating for Goldstein residents’ interests, I would encourage such coordination to address conflicting demands and expectations of the public and of planning authorities.

I feel very passionately about our beautiful Australian environment and believe this must be protected. Goldstein is home to some of the best coastline and parks in Australia, as well as the fabulous Ricketts Point Marine Life Sanctuary. I would:

• Take a strong stand against local developments that reduce or impact these areas.

• Support a more moderate approach to industrialised fishing of our waters.

• Advocate for the use of technology to monitor protected areas to deter illegal actions, by applying stronger fines and publicly publishing offender videos on social media and in local magazines.

• Investigate retention of the Cerberus, which is home to many sea life.

• Welcome community and expert feedback on how we can better address any concerns