Craig Ingram MP - Independent Member for Gippsland East

The Independent Member for Gippsland East, Craig Ingram, has called on the coalition to fully explain its now hollow pledge to return alpine grazing to the High Country.

“The coalition has today publicly stated it will not legislate to return alpine grazing, but will use questionable provisions under the fire code of practice that allows the Department of Sustainability and Environment (DSE) to utilise grazing as a tool ‘only for significantly modified habitats’,” Mr Ingram said.

“This hardly describes the areas that mountain cattlemen are seeking a return to in the Alpine National Park.

“On my interpretation of the National Parks Act, it would be almost impossible to return grazing without changes to the legislation, and those who supported the coalition’s stance must be very disappointed with the reality.

Mr Ingram said the detail revealed in today's Weekly Times is a stark contrast to the unequivocal commitment that Nationals’ leader Peter Ryan gave to the recent Mountain Cattlemen’s get-together.

“This is just another example of the National Party saying what they think groups want to hear even if it is not coalition policy.

“Cattle grazing was removed from the Alpine National Parks through legislation and it will take legislation to return the grazing.

“If the coalition does not have the stomach to bring legislation before the Parliament, they should not be giving the cattlemen false hope.

“The real reason that the Nationals and a select few Liberals are avoiding a commitment to legislate and debate in Parliament is that they know they do not have the numbers within the coalition to get the policy through the party room.”

Mr Ingram said the National Party has also declared they will sack public servants who don’t give the right advice on returning cattle to the High Country.

“The Nationals’ Peter Walsh has indicated that under a coalition government it will be up to the department to decide when and where grazing will be returned and if the government does not like the advice they receive then the public servants will be sacked,” Mr Ingram said.

“It is clear that the National Party does not understand the role of the public service.

“While MPs, opposition and governments often do not like or agree with the advice they receive from the public service, public servants must be free to give impartial advice and briefings on all matters.

“The politicising of the public services by both Labor and the coalition over past decades is a major concern, but this latest display by the coalition is a new low and is totally unacceptable and it should be condemned,” Mr Ingram concluded.

Futher reading: The Weekly Times (click on links below):

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