It was my pleasure to attend the Youth Live4Life Spring into Winter annual dinner in Melbourne recently, hosted by Brian Nankervis. It was also wonderful to hear from Clare Bowditch and Jacinta Parsons and see young people involved in the entire evening. Minister for Regional Development, Mary-Anne Thomas, also attended the event. Youth Live4Life is a registered charity that works with regional communities to improve the mental health and well-being of young people. In a partnership between Bass Coast and South Gippsland Shire Councils and Live4Life, a local three-year program was launched earlier this year. The program, which involves local secondary schools, the Department of Education and numerous key community and youth services in our region, was initiated due to the increase in critical incidents and increase in young people presenting to support services in Bass Coast and South Gippsland. Delivering the Live4Life program with South Gippsland across our Shires brings our communities together, to invest in and improve the mental health and wellbeing of our young people.

It was World Environment Day on Sunday, a great day to reflect on the importance of preserving and restoring our environment, right here in Bass Coast. We have been recognised as the best recyclers in the state for three years running – by diverting just over 75 per cent of our waste away from landfill. The Bass Coast community deserves to be acknowledged and celebrated for their brilliant recycling efforts and commitment to our environment. Another way we are working on enhancing our local environment is through our biolinks program. Since 2018, over 2.5 million indigenous plants have been planted across the Shire, resulting in around 1100 hectares of revegetation. We have 46 landowners signed up for the biolinks program this year, which is the largest number of landowners we have had participating since it began. With their help, we’ll plant another 125,000 indigenous plants across this Shire.

As part of my role as the Councillor Advisory Group Chair of the South East Councils Climate Change Alliance, I had the opportunity to meet with Shadow Minister for Environment and Climate Change James Newbury recently to discuss ways to reduce emissions and adapt to climate change. In an election year it is really important to engage with all of the parties to seek the best outcome for meeting the climate challenge.