The Victorian Greens say that Labor must explain why there is no evidence that $1.35 million of taxpayer money meant for forest restoration was used as intended.
A new VAGO report states that $1.35 million given in grants specifically allocated for ‘site rehabilitation’ were gifted by Labor but they have failed to provide any evidence of work delivered, achieved environmental outcomes or that funds were used as intended.
The Victorian Greens say that it’s outrageous that millions in public money can be spent with no evidence that forests were rehabilitated as planned – and as a result there are likely large tracts of Victorian forest that have been left with no forest rehabilitation.
VAGO’s report only looks at one portion of the $1.5 billion the Victorian Labor Government has given to the logging industry to stop native forest logging.
The report found that the Victorian Labor Government failed to comply with rules, leaving gaps in its recording and oversight processes.
The audit followed a series of allegations dating back to May 2023 that government grants meant for supporting workers into sustainable jobs were being exploited to log Tasmanian forests. The Victorian Greens Leader, Ellen Sandell referred the allegations to VAGO in March 2024.
Leader of the Victorian Greens, Ellen Sandell:
“Labor needs to explain why there is no evidence that taxpayer money specifically set aside for forest restoration and rehabilitation were used as intended.
“It’s outrageous that there’s likely huge parts of the forest that have been left without any rehabilitation because Labor gave millions to the logging industry – and nobody ever had to prove how this money was spent.
“Labor doesn’t care about our environment or our forests, but is happy to give millions handouts to loggers, and this is just another example of this”