National park enthusiasts are furious while other bush users are rejoicing following recent comments by the environment and outdoor recreation minister Steve Dimopoulos.
Speaking at the Electrical Trades Union Victorian Branch’s conference on Wednesday 2 July, Mr Dimopoulos is reported to have confirmed that the Great Forest National Park proposal is not a Victorian Government policy.
A Victorian Government spokesperson said they’ve been very clear that the Great Forest National Park (GFNP) is not and never has been a Government policy.
“Recreational fishing, boating and game hunting supports tens of thousands of jobs across the state, especially in regional Victoria,” they said.
“We are creating new national parks and expanding regional parks to link existing state forests, parks and reserves to ensure our great outdoors is looked after, for every Victorian to enjoy.”
The only national parks the Victorian Government is committed to were announced in 2021, creating three national parks, two conservation parks, and seven new and expanded regional parks in the state’s central west – including the Wombat-Lerderderg National Park covering more than 44,000 hectares between Daylesford and Bacchus Marsh.
Last year, the Star Mail reported on a 2024 survey by political consultancy firm RedBridge which found a high percentage of Victorians supported the creation of new national parks.
The Star Mail contacted the government for comment at the time and were directed to comments made at a press conference by Mr Dimopoulos regarding a review of Parks Victoria where he seemed to rule out the potential for a Great Forest National Park, where he said they were all that’s in the frame for national parks at this stage.
“We committed to three national parks at Mount Buangor, the Pyrenees and Wombat-Lederberg in 2021 and it will be coming to Parliament very soon to enact and complete the promise we made to the community three years ago,” he said at the time.
“There are no new national parks on the agenda, we have two reports we’re going to respond to; one is the Eminent Panel for Community Engagement (EPCE) and the other one is the Great Outdoors Taskforce, which is yet to land,”
“The mainframe there is for more opportunities for people to get out, and enjoy the Great Outdoors… more camping, more mountain bike riding, more four-wheel driving, more bird-watching, more trail hikes, and all those other things, this is a rare opportunity to strategically plan an area which you could not previously plan because we were harvesting timber, now it’s becoming a community asset.”
Despite this, conservation and hunting organisation Field and Game Australia (FGA) and the Victorian National Parks Association (VNPA) have responded publicly to the latest comments from Mr Dimopolous.
“The Minister made it clear that the Great Forest National Park is not, and never has been, a Victorian Labor Government initiative,” Field and Game Australia said in a Facebook post.
“He stated they do not support and will not implement a Great Forest National Park,”
“We appreciate the clarity on this issue and will continue to represent the interests of our members in all relevant forums.”
Mr Dimopolous’ comments from the conference had not been widely shared publicly before the FGA post, with the VNPA only finding out about it from the post itself, which they said blindsided ‘conservationists, scientists, and Yarra Ranges locals who have spent more than a decade campaigning’ for the GFNP.
“The Allan Government has walked away from Labor’s promise of new parks for eastern Victoria – siding with fringe interests over families, and locking Victorians out of the nature they were promised,” GFNP campaigner and Toolangi resident Sarah Rees said.
“They didn’t just break a promise, they broke faith with the public. But this won’t stop us. It’s only strengthened our resolve.”
The findings of an Eminent Panel for Community Engagement (EPCE), which began targeted conversations in late 2023, resulted in a completed report by mid-2024 but have not been made public. According to its Engage Victoria page, the report is currently being considered by the Victorian Government.
An interim report on the state forests of the Central Highlands, published by the Victorian Environmental Assessment Council (VEAC) and which was to inform community engagement for the EPCE, found about 300,000 hectares of state forest would be suitable to be considered national parks in the wake of the transition away from native timber harvesting.
VNPA Parks and Nature Campaigner Jordan Crook said far more Victorians visit national parks than state forests.
“National parks don’t just protect nature – they’re overwhelmingly popular and provide fair, accessible and equitable access to the bush for all Victorians,” he said.
“These bizarre attacks overturn decades of Victorian policy and put us out of step with both national and international conservation approaches,”
“The Allan Government needs to come clean and publicly release the Eminent Persons Panel report on the Central Highlands that is now nine months overdue so all Victorians can see what they are doing, instead of drip feeding information to special interest groups.”
