Gilmore votes: Labor’s environment pledge ‘out where the river broke’
Labor called upon former minister and Midnight Oil lead singer Peter Garrett to announce a cash splash that will help maintain the South Coast’s premier tourism destination status.
The South Coast News
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Labor has pulled out one of their no.1 ‘celebrities’ to sprinkle another election promise in the seat of Gilmore.
Former Environment Minister, environmentalist and Midnight Oil rocker Peter Garrett joined MP Fiona Phillips and the party’s deputy leader Richard Marles to commit $1.5 million towards maintaining the Shoalhaven River system.
The announcement was made at the picturesque Shoalhaven Heads with the cash injection a part of an overarching $200 million urban rivers and catchments program pledge.
The funds would go directly to Shoalhaven City Council to work with volunteers at Shoalhaven Riverwatch to revegetate the river, remove rubbish and put in place education initiatives.
The Shoalhaven and Crookhaven Rivers will get a snippet of Labor’s $200m urban waterways program. #Gilmore MP @fiboydphillips was joined by @RichardMarlesMP and @pgarrett at Shoalhaven Heads to make the $1.5m commitment - funds would go directly to Shoalhaven Council. #auspolpic.twitter.com/UHa3MwlE8L
— Dylan Arvela (@dylanarvela) May 17, 2022
“This area has been through so much from drought, to bushfires, to floods, so it’s important to look after our waterways,” Mrs Phillips said.
“The Shoalhaven River is one of the most beautiful rivers around and unfortunately we have seen a lot of erosion over time.
“Shoalhaven Riverwatch along with Shoalhaven City Council and the tireless volunteers have been putting hours and hours in the revegetation of the river.
“We want to keep the work going on. We know money is short [at local government level], we know Shoalhaven Council has a lot of issues around pot-holed roads and things like that, so anything we can do to support the council, in particular the volunteers who support those programs.”
Mr Marles said $1.5 million would go “a long way” and said it would help maintain the South Coast’s tourism hotspot status.
“Reducing the pollution within the river, improving water management and improving rehabilitation along the river is really important for the natural environment and natural flora and fauna,” he said.
“It’s really important for the people who live along the river and those who enjoy the river.
“This is important to maintaining the South Coast as one of the premier tourist destinations in Australia and that’s so important in turn for the local economy.”
Mr Garrett, a self-described “part-time local” with a residence in the Kangaroo Valley, said the Shoalhaven River, which is one of Australia’s oldest river systems, was a lifeblood of the community.
“For too many years we have underdone our attention to local river systems right up and down the coast,” Mr Garrett said.
“The program Labor has in place, if it was to be elected, is extremely important for our rivers to be places of recreation, for fishing, for making sure habitat for threatened and endangered species is in place.
“The Shoalhaven River is one of the lifebloods of the community and involving the community [is important] in everything [Shoalhaven Riverwatch] do.”
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