Voices of Boothby

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Join us in letterboxing on August 12

Boothby BBQ and Letterboxing Day of Action The time has come for the major political parties to deliver on their commitments to Indigenous constitutional recognition by holding a referendum on a Voice to Parliament in 2023

Did you know the protections for trees in South Australia are set by the State Government?

Sadly, South Australia has some of the worst protections for trees on private land in Australia and the lowest levels of tree canopy in many areas. With the State Election coming up this Saturday, your vote could make a difference in providing better protection for our tree canopy.

We cannot continue to lose our urban forest at such an unsustainable rate. Trees are critical for cooling our suburbs, cleaning our air, providing habitat for animals and they even increase house prices.

So, where do the main parties stand on protecting trees in our urban environment?

This page has no political affiliation, the policies below are taken directly off the websites of the three main parties. If you have independent candidates in your seat, ask them if they have a policy regarding trees – many do!

Labor
“Green Open Spaces”
“Labor will use the Open Space Grant Program to invest in green space. We will offer 10 per cent of the contributions to the Planning and Development Fund every year to councils to apply to buy land to create pocket parks. This will balance the spaces lost as more dense housing is built. We will make every effort to spend the funds from new developments in the same council area.

A Malinauskas Labor government will work with the Green Adelaide board to prioritise projects that actively green neighbourhoods, supporting biodiversity and a good quality of life for families getting out and enjoying the outdoors.

Labor will address the loss of trees that has seen us become one of the capital cities with the least green canopy by undertaking serious urban forest management. That means having Australian best practice for tree removal regulations and a targeted plan, with Green Adelaide, for new plantings so everyone benefits from access to green space near them.”

Liberal
“Greener Streets and Suburbs”
“Just like we promised, the Marshall Liberal Government established a ‘Greener Neighbourhoods' grant program to keep our streets cool and green by planting more trees.

In the first few years of this program alone, we have added nearly 10,000 trees and shrubs across Adelaide’s streets, parks and open spaces and we're now providing green wall and roof grants and a new water rebate program.

We have also expanded greener neighbourhood grants to our regional towns.
Urban greening reduces temperatures, improves air quality and creates habitat for wildlife. It is an example of practical action to tackle climate change that also improves the liveability of our city and suburbs and even boosts house values!”

The Greens
“For over 20 years, the law has recognised the special place that stately old trees play in our environment, especially in the cities and suburbs where most of the original vegetation is gone. Whether it’s a centuries-old native River Redgum or a stately oak or elm, these trees need to be protected, whilst there are still some left.

However, the laws protecting trees are weak and the rights of citizens to protect them are few. We do need to protect public safety, but dubious claims of danger from falling branches can now be made without expert assessment. We are even seeing healthy trees chopped down for no reason other than that might be in the way of some future development.

The existing laws around “significant” and “regulated” trees are failing the community and the environment and need to be reformed.

The Greens will legislate to:
- Expand the definition of “significant” and “regulated” trees to include important native species that might not grow massive trunks, but are still worthy of protection. Size isn’t everything;
- Ensure that a qualified arborist must verify claims that trees are dangerous before removal can be authorised. If trimming will fix the problem, then that’s often better than removing the whole tree. Emergency situations will still require emergency action;
- Prohibit the practice of developers of clearing vegetation before any plans for replacement buildings have been lodged.
- Enable neighbours and other citizens to participate in decisions to remove large trees. The trees might be on privately owned land, but their future is of concern to many in the community.”

The following parties’ websites were searched but did not obviously contain a tree related policy:
- Animal Justice Party (Does have a land clearing policy)
- Aust Family Party
- Family First Party
- Independent Dignity 4 Disabled
- Liberal Democrats
- Pauline Hanson's One Nation
- Real Change SA
- SA-BEST
- The Nationals

Share this post with a friend if they aren’t sure who they are voting for!

Parties are displayed in alphabetical order.

Tagged below are a number of intendent candidates at the state election who are running in electorates covered by the Regulated & Significant Tree Protections. Please comment below if you have a tree policy!

Airlie Keen - Independent for Hammond Frances Bedford - Independent State M.P. Heather Holmes-Ross - Independent Candidate for Waite Dan Cregan - Member for Kavel Jaison Midzi Sam Duluk MP Schubert In Rock

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