sustainable

The State Government is developing a blueprint to encourage population growth in regional Victoria. Forty per cent of the growth is expected in Ballarat, Bendigo, Geelong and the Latrobe Valley, but growth is also expected in fragile coastal, alpine and Murray River areas. Brumby will do the same for regional areas that he is doing in Melbourne, with our swelling growth corridors and continual "developments" that mean more roads, traffic, housing estates and loss of native vegetation and wildlife habitat! We have no wildlife corridors or Framework for native animal protection. "Conservation" and environmental issues are just given tokenism, and "sustainable" is just a green-washing term. "Growth" is all about more people, more taxes and charges, and a means to produce more consumers for businesses. We are past "sustainable growth" and the last abysmal Victorian State of the Environment Report released in December 2008 by Sustainability Commissioner Ian McPhail should have been enough to convince our government that more population growth is unsustainable. "If everyone lived liked Victorians, almost four planets would be needed"! Victoria is already the most damaged and cleared State in Australia. Repairing environmental damage will cost us millions! Job demands will mean justification of eco-destruction such as logging of old growth forests and water catchment areas, and dependence on coal. Growth with no population plan means ignoring peak oil supply, water scarcity, power demands, greenhouse gas emissions, greater food miles and loss of biodiversity. When will growth stop? When we have "wall to wall" people? Keeping a viable ecology intact is in everybody's interests. We can't just assume that our State's ecosystem can keep functioning and accommodate all the stresses we give it. Brumby's "growth" plans equate to irresponsible greed and eco-destruction, and only a few will benefit. http://www.bendigoadvertiser.com.au/news/local/news/general/brumby-outli... http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2009/02/03/2480840.htm