AUSTRALIA needs to start prioritising community safety and human life over the red and green tape which is strangling our nation, says the federal MP for Gippsland, Darren Chester.
The MP was referencing the “discovery” of native grasses that has hijacked an essential project to extend and widen the Bairnsdale Aerodrome runway in Gippsland, Victoria. Chester says the project is “all about future proofing this critical asset”.
“Remember, as the Black Summer crisis unfolded, the aerodrome was critical for the response and immediate recovery effort with fixed wing aircraft and helicopters from emergency services and the Australian Defence Force providing vital services,” he says.
“Every week it is used for urgent medical transfers to metropolitan hospitals and we were able to secure $9.9 million in February 2022 for the much-needed runway works from the previous Federal Government.”
But government environmentalists have now “discovered” native grasses near the existing runway, which has triggered an Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act intervention, which has delayed the project indefinitely and will require ratepayers to pay millions of dollars for environmental offsets, if the project ever proceeds.
This is typical of projects across Australia that are being hijacked by the green bureaucracy, as a previous Cairns News report on a multi-million-dollar aged care centre in regional NSW revealed.
“The (airport) project has effectively stalled and after three years, nothing has been built as construction prices keep going up. Who knows what the final cost to taxpayers will be?” said Chester.
“We had to beg the Albanese Government to extend the timelines for the grant while East Gippsland Shire Council (EGSC) has tried to meet the ridiculous environmental conditions.
“The grant money is apparently still there but it has been transferred to the State Government and EGSC has to negotiate with state bureaucrats and get formal agreements before any work can actually start.
“It’s a complete farce to place native grass ahead of human life on a section of land which has been heavily disturbed by slashing and construction activities for decades.
“The corridors set aside for infrastructure like roads and airports should be exempt from these extreme laws, if community safety is at risk.
“Whether its extending an airport runway at an existing airport, or widening a road to improve safety and productivity within the road reserve, we shouldn’t be adding more than 30% to the cost on infrastructure by onerous environmental offset laws which achieve absolutely nothing for biodiversity and sustainability, in relation to the size of existing parks and conservation areas.”
Chester is right. Environmental regulations are a plague on Australia’s economy – what is left of it.
We should also point out that native grasses are absolutely not “endangered” in Australia. Multiple nurseries across the country grow the wide variety of native grasses, which are frequently used in drought-resistant landscaping.
It is rank stupidity to stop essential projects on the bases of someone discovering native grass at a site.
