Dear Editor,
The Premier Jacinta Allan has reneged on her promise not to put a padlock on Victoria’s public forests, in a move that has infuriated people from far and wide.
I’ve received letters from across the state, and overseas, from people frustrated by the Labor State Government’s decision to close rock-climbing routes at Mt Arapiles.
Not long ago, Premier Allan addressed the Herald Sun Bush Summit in Bendigo and said: “That’s why today, I want to be very clear as premier, and as a proud country Victorian, I won’t be putting a padlock on our public forests. It’s not who I am. Its not what I believe in.”
Yet what we have seen is the complete opposite, a world class site – nature-based tourism at its best – closed without any prior engagement with the regional communities or industries that will be devastated by this decision.
Cultural heritage is put forward as the basis for this decision, yet they won’t release the documentation behind it, and this is just the tip of the mountain.
Time and again we see no notice, no right of appeal, no transparency and no accountability.
This is a State Government in freefall, and Labor cannot be trusted.
The next state election in November 2026 is now 100 weeks away, and it can’t come soon enough.
Yours sincerely
Gaelle Broad MP
The Nationals’ Member for Northern Victoria
