The Victorian Greens are calling on Jacinta Allan's Labor government to urgently reverse their plans to scrap Sustainability Victoria as part of their Christmas eve job cuts to the public service.
Sustainability Victoria runs important programs that help schools, businesses and Victorian households reduce waste, energy. It has been a core part of helping Victoria become more sustainable - and now it will be axed as part of Labor's public service cuts, in a decision the Greens say is terrible for the environment and for the people who are losing their jobs right before Christmas.
Sustainability Victoria provides guidance and grants to help businesses remove hazardous materials such as asbestos and toxic batteries, has helped over 1600 schools become more sustainable, and accelerated commercialisation of recycled materials, including using recycled glass to make roads. The Greens say these cuts decimate this important work and send the state backwards.
Labor has already made massive cuts to the environment sector this year including DEECA, Parks Victoria, Solar Victoria, Victorian Fisheries Authority, Office of the Conservation Regulator and more. The Greens say this shows that Labor simply does not prioritise protecting the environment.
Instead, Labor is gutting our public services and the environment programs to "balance the books" in an election year.
As stated by Victorian Greens Leader Ellen Sandell MP
"Jacinta Allan is compromising essential environmental programs as part of a tired and cynical exercise to make it look like the Government's fiscal position has improved in an election year."
"Labor have already cut huge numbers of environmental programs and jobs in Victoria, and axing Sustainability Victoria is just the latest example of how Labor simply does not care about the environment."
As stated by Victorian Greens Spokesperson for Workers Rights Aiv Puglielli MP
"Hard working Victorians have come to work today only to find out that they're losing their jobs a few weeks before Christmas, all so Jacinta Allan's budget book can look better during an election year."
"The hard working people behind our essential services shouldn't be punished for the billions in infrastructure blowouts that the government is trying to cover up"
"These cuts are quite literally the lump of coal for Christmas that nobody asked for."
