Mr McARTHUR (1:55 PM) —In the Otways, in the heartland of Corangamite, the Victorian government is set to create a 100,000-hectare national park. The Minister for Environment, John Thwaites, announced this yesterday. It will be a nine times increase. I put on the public record concern about what resources will be devoted to this national park. Will the roads that were provided by the timber industry in the previous 40 years be maintained? Will the national park be able to fight another Ash Wednesday? Will the resources of the Victorian government be allocated to maintain the park, to make sure that weeds such as blackberries do not get out of control, that feral animals are kept under control and that access will be available for the residents of Corangamite? And will the state government be accountable in the way in which they maintain the park and put on the public record the value that the park now has and the value the park might have in another 10 years? This is a very critical issue.

The Bracks government threw out the RFA in the Otways and are to remove logging by the year 2008, and they have now created this massive national park. But they have given no undertaking or guarantee that they will maintain the Otway National Park in its present state and that they will do so in the future, and they have given no guarantee of the amount of money they will put in the budget. Also, will the fuel reduction burning that should be undertaken to maintain the biodiversity in that park be undertaken on an annual basis to ensure that the quality of the park remains? (Time expired)