Page 732 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 31 March 2021
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We have heard from many frustrated community members who want to dedicate their creativity, innovation and precious spare time and energy to make Canberra’s suburbs greener, and have found obstacles in getting permission to realise their visions. I also call on the government to turn its attention to “green tape”, a term usually cynically applied to environmental regulation, but which here refers to the myriad risk-averse and difficult to navigate formal processes that community groups currently have to battle to get their local conservation projects off the ground.
We need to regularly hold the government of the day to account. The method for accurately determining tree canopy can be laborious and expensive, but once every five years is not sufficient to track whether or not we are moving towards our goals. We need a reasonable estimate with regard to gains and losses in trees, provided regularly enough so that we can correct our course if programs and policies are not working as intended.
Today I am proud to carry on the work of my Greens forebears in this area, leading to this motion to support an urban tree canopy target. The Greens have been advocating for Canberra’s trees since we first entered the Assembly. In 1995 Kerrie Tucker was on record advocating for resources for our environment directorates and asking for community funding to be commensurate with the responsibilities and expectations put on them with regard to trees. She also said—and this is just as relevant today as it was then:
Community-based action is vital if we are to overcome the political, bureaucratic and psychological barriers to change, and community-led processes must be supported by government if plans are going to be implemented. Strong vertical links between community and government also have to be supplemented by horizontal links across all spectrums which cover community interest groups both within and across geographical boundaries.
A decade later, in 2005, Dr Deb Foskey said:
The Greens support tree legislation which moves towards retaining and protecting a certain amount of tree cover, not just individual trees.
A decade later, in 2015, Shane Rattenbury said:
As we undertake urban renewal we need to make sure we maintain and invest in our green infrastructure … the key to urban renewal in the face of climate change is the development of green infrastructure in the city and our town centres. Trees in our urban areas are an important component of Canberra’s identity and also a significant means to provide a more tempered climate on hotter days.
The trees and green spaces in our town centres have multiple benefits, including growing food in community gardens, holding community gatherings and encouraging active lifestyles.
In 2013 Caroline Le Couteur pushed a motion through this Assembly calling for a review of the Tree Protection Act, the Territory Plan and government infrastructure standards to “make room for trees” in development and to get better protection for
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