Mrs GASH (10:45 PM) —I rise tonight to offer other members a glimpse of the rare beauty which exists in my electorate of Gilmore, arguably the most physically beautiful electorate in Australia. Our beaches, highlands, rivers, forests and lakes attract thousands of visitors each year, with local community groups playing a major role in protecting and conserving the local environment.

Imagine, if you will, a historic village area where members of the local community gather to meet, enjoy picnics in the sunny afternoon, and watch their children play together. It is an area of village green which provides a dividing boundary between the communities of Mossvale and Bowral. With the site of the first Southern Highlands town of Bong Bong directly opposite, the green is heavy with the ghosts of the past but brimming with the potential to provide an answer to problems with cost effective, viable revegetation programs for the future.

I rise to speak tonight not to give a history lesson on Bong Bong Common, now a disused airfield, but to give support to an important initiative which I have followed since it started and which I believe emphasises our need as a community to persevere with projects which benefit the local area and Australia. This particular issue also raises the importance of cooperation between all levels of government and that of working with the community to protect and improve, as in this instance, the environment.

The conservation and preservation of local habitats and environmental areas of significance has been a key objective of the coalition government nationally. Successful programs such as bushcare, part of the Natural Heritage Trust, and Green Corps have ensured that the community groups, land users, government and industry work together to protect native bushland to increase and improve tree planting and promote the use of native vegetation into farming systems.

While national objectives are important, in applauding these successes we should not overlook what is achieved locally by community organisations and local councils. In Bong Bong, the community based organisation Greening Australia carried out direct seeding trials to revegetate the area. Direct seeding is a technique whereby tree seed is sown into the earth in a similar way that farmers sow wheat. It is an emerging technique, quick and cost effective. However, the results are not always predictable or successful.

Four years ago, when I was a councillor with the Wingecarribee Shire Council, the local shire and Greening Australia carried out a seeding program at the common. Whilst being historically important, management plans for the site include the development of the area as a garden showpiece for the highlands and construction of a major network of bush walking trails, including paths specifically designed for the blind. Already it attracts families and friends throughout the districts for picnics and meetings and provides a natural playground for children of all ages.

As part of the direct seeding program, the wider community was consulted and it took several years to decide how best to prepare the location for the trial. The results were not a resounding success to say the least, with only a handful of seeds taking root and surviving the ensuing months. However, the reason for the less than expected result was not necessarily the seeding technique. In order to professionally assess the use of direct seeding, Greening Australia has offered to do the project again. With my encouragement and total support, Wingecarribee Shire Council and Greening Australia will be working together again over the next few months to reseed the site and, with the advancement in knowledge and trials during the past four years, we are all very confident of its success.

Greening Australia will be a major contributor to bringing the airfield once again to life for the people of Bong Bong. In the same way, the coalition government's commitment to improving the environment is being promoted through the auspices of the Natural Heritage Trust and the Green Corps program, amongst others. Through programs such as coast care, dune care, bushcare, coasts and clean seas, more than 15 Gilmore volunteer groups will receive financial support for the first time to continue the work that they do for the environment. The key message is that the government's strategic investment in vegetation repair and maintenance receives added value through partnership with the community, supported by organisations such as Greening Australia.

The work that Greening Australia does would not be possible without community and business support. For example, in the first six months of its bushcare support contract, which underpins the Natural Heritage Trust bushcare program, Greening Australia has exceeded many of its national targets. For example, in six months Greening Australia has more than doubled the planned number of hectares of demonstration works and fencing to protect remnant vegetation.

Staff, volunteer members and community volunteers collected nearly 400 kilograms of native seed to be used to re-establish trees and shrubs on degraded land. In six months, nearly 54,000 seedlings have been distributed to groups and land holders. That will see areas such as the Bong Bong Common regenerated and revegetated to improve not only the land and soil but the very air we breathe. I applaud Greening Australia for continuing this program.