The Victorian Government budget released yesterday, provides $877.1 million in funding for the environment.
Funding includes:
- $517 million – to reduce the risk of bushfires, including $15.6 million to increase work to remove long grasses and other highly flammable undergrowth and over $133 million to upgrade the digital radio service for Forest Fire Management Victoria staff and other emergency response personnel.
- $75.3 million – to Landcare, Trust for Nature and the Port Philip Bay Fund to plant trees and tackle weeds and pests.
- $31.7 million – for the patrol and maintenance of Victorian parks.
- $10 million – to drive emissions reductions to deliver the Government’s Climate Change Strategy.
- $37.9 million – investment to continue to protect Victorian forests through Regional Forest Agreements.
- $64.4 million – to ensure the reliability and fairness of the energy system.
- $76.4 million – for the Environment Protection Authority, plus $14 million to continue the clean-up of high-risk waste sites at Kaniva and Campbellfield and $2.9 million to make public land safe from contamination.
