Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan pledges to keep access open to state forests at Bush Summit 2024

Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan will pledge to keep access to state parks open for recreational activies such as dog walking, dirt bike riding and gold detecting in a keynote address to the Herald Sun Bush Summit.

Jacinta Allan says she will ensure all Victorians can continue to visit and enjoy forests for recreation. Picture: David Geraghty

Premier Jacinta Allan will pledge not to “padlock” the state’s public forests and keep ­access open to state parks at the annual Herald Sun Bush Summit on Monday.

Appearing at the conference in Bendigo, Ms Allan is expected to affirm her commitment to bush living and state that she will ensure all Victorians can continue to visit and enjoy forests for recreation.

“My brother and I grew up in and around the bush – and (my partner) Yorick and I, we’re raising our kids the same way,” a sneak-peek preview of Ms Allan’s speech said.

“At the end of a long week, particularly a parliamentary sitting week, a walk in the bush is our balm.

“We take the kids, the dogs, and we enjoy the beautiful bushland that we are so blessed to call our home.

Jacinta Allan with husband Yorick and dogs Mindi and Maximus. Picture: Mark Stewart

“I know there are some people who are worried about the future of our state’s forests. And I understand there needs to be a balance. There are pockets that we need to protect, areas we must conserve.

“But, to me, the most important thing we can do for our bush is make sure it’s ­enjoyed.”

Her comments come amid growing concern that Victorians will be locked out of some state forests amid a push for more national parks.

In 2021, under former premier Daniel Andrews, the state government announced a plan in response to the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council’s Central West Investigation Final Report that flagged a long-term strategy to rebadge hundreds of thousands of hectares of public forests as national parks.

The move would mean activities such as dog walking, horseriding, dirt bike riding, gold detecting and firewood collection would be banned.

Ms Allan says ‘the most important thing we can do for our bush is make sure it’s ­enjoyed’. Picture: Getty

Among the flagged plans was a move to combine Lerderderg State Park and Wombat State Forest to create Wombat-Lerderderg National Park covering 44,000ha between Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh.

It also floated the 15,000ha Pyrenees National Park to be created from forest west of Avoca, and a 5282ha Mt Buangor National Park would double the size of the existing state park north of Buangor.

There is also a push by environmental groups to convert roughly 300,000ha of the Central Highlands state forests into a national park, which the state government is considering.

Community consultation began this year on merging existing Yarra Ranges, Kinglake, Lake Eildon and Baw Baw ­national parks and the Bunyip, Cathedral Ranges and Moondarra state parks into a national park after native timber harvesting was banned from January 1.

Any move to clamp down on activities in state forests will anger community bodies.

Local residents along with Field and Game Australia, 4WD Victoria and Australian Trail Horse Riders Association have already spoken out against the Central Highlands forest plan.

On Monday, Ms Allan is not expected to announce a new policy for her government, but her comments foreshadowed a softening on the policy to turn entire forests into national parks.

“As Premier, and as a proud country Victorian, I will never put a padlock on our public forest,” her speech read.

“It’s not who I am and it’s not what I believe. Instead I want to make sure our kids and grandkids can experience – and fall in love with – our precious bushland, in the same way you and I have been lucky enough to.”