Parks Victoria cuts 51 services, from feral pest control to young rangers

Parks Victoria has cuts 51 services in the wake of funding shortfalls and redundancies.

Funding cuts have forced Parks Victoria to slash staff and services acrosss the 4.12 million hectares it manages as tracks fall apart and pest control is cut.

Parks Victoria has almost halved the 111 services it carries out across 4.12 million hectares of public land, cutting rabbit and fox control, rubbish collection and educational programs.

A copy of Parks Victoria’s confidential Operations Service Catalogue, seen by The Weekly Times, shows it has cut the number of “must do” services to 60, with the remaining 51 classified as “could do if resources permit”, “only do if tied funded” or “stop/pause”.

Removing dumped rubbish, including asbestos, was listed as “could do if resources permit”, while managing invasive feral animals – foxes, rabbits, deer, horses and bees and invasive plants – were listed as “only do if tied funded”.

Meanwhile staff are being made redundant, as the delivery of the junior rangers program’s nature walks, bush kinder and all other educational programs are brought to a halt.

A Community and Public Sector Union spokeswoman said Parks Victoria “urgently needs ongoing funding and a budget boost to be able to keep our parks safe, clean and open to meet the needs of Victorians”.

The union also took aim at Premier Jacinta Allan’s announcement of free camping from December 1 to June 30 next year, warning it did nothing to address the problem.

Parks Victoria is already struggling with rebuilding accommodation, tracks and campgrounds destroyed by the 2019-20 Black Summer bushfires in East Gippsland, as well as battling to get funding to upgrade the piers and jetties it manages.

The service catalogue also shows Parks Victoria has cut its infrastructure and operations work, with “regular level 1 inspections of all assets, including reporting and maintaining navigation aids”, listed as “only do if tied funding”.

The deterioration in park assets has led to a barrage of complaints, prompting Parks Victoria to release a Messaging Guide for staff in October, titled “Asset Closures and Prioritisation”, which details word-for-word what they should say to members of the public.

When dealing with complaints about a particular track closure, dilapidated jetty or inaccessible camp site, Parks Victoria staff are told to say: “We are currently focused on other priority park management services, so are unable to support this request. If this situation changes, we will let the community know.”

The guide tells staff to amend messages by adding their local region, such as: “We manage a number parks across the (add X region), including (add name park or site).

“Given the diversity and scale of the land we manage, Parks Victoria must prioritise how we manage and maintain park features and programs. We’ve adjusted our service levels to concentrate on critical park management priorities (add park/site name if applicable)”.

The Weekly Times asked Environment Minister Steve Dimopoulos why Parks Victoria was unable to deliver half its 100-odd operational objectives for 2024-25 and was scripting staff responses to complaints.

But the minister handballed the queries to Parks Victoria late who simply stated they managed 4m hectares of public land.

Gippsland East Opposition Nationals MP Tim Bull said “it bordered on stupidity, that when our current park system is not being maintained the government is not only cutting more services, but also expanding out national parks network”.