Green leafy suburbs make this community a unique and beautiful place to live.  

As you would appreciate, there are an array of different environmental policies that endeavour to protect our environment. I have been focusing on both ends of the policy spectrum by being proactive in the areas I can influence, such as: 

✅ Encouraging the removal of weeds and pests species that damage our local environment 

• By actively meeting with local land care groups that are removing olives throughout the Sturt Gorge and Brownhill Creek Recreation Parks. 
  
  

✅ Supporting the Department of Environment & Water with their fire management to conduct planned burns in our area 

• I participated in the Keelty Bushfire Review and regularly meet with the local CFS brigades, National Parks Rangers and the Department to ensure we receive adequate planned burns. 
  
  

✅ Rejuvenating sites by planting native species and greening our suburbs 

• Joined with over 100 volunteers and the Blackwood Reconciliation Group to plant 600 native trees at Colebrook Reconciliation Park as well as a tree planting day in the Wittunga Botanic Gardens 
  
  

✅ Promoting less waste and picking up litter  

• Successfully banning single-use plastics in South Australia (see my speech here) 
• Supporting Blackwood Action Group again in their 10th Annual Clean Up Australia Day and promoting the Keep Australia Beautiful Week 2020 
  
  

✅ Working towards more action on Climate Changes in our State  

• Through both policy South Australian Government Climate Change Action Plan 2021-25 and investment in energy reducing and renewable technologies  
  
  

There are also other issues such as the removal of mature and significant trees in our community. I wrote to the Attorney-General asking more information about how the New Planning and Design Code will impact trees in our community.  

You can see my speech on the importance of balancing the new Planning and Design Code to ensure we are not developing at the cost of heritage and the environment.