IN THE face of major funding and staffing cuts, Parks Victoria will be shutting down 51 crucial services that are used to manage their millions of hectares of land across the state.

Of the 111 services Parks Victoria carries out over their 4.12 million hectares of public land, the number of ‘must do’ services have been reduced to 60, with the remaining 51 classified as ‘could do if resources permit’, ‘only do if tied funded’, or ‘stop/pause’.

The services being cut include feral pest control, rubbish collection, and educational initiatives such as the young ranger’s program.

The news comes as Labor cut $95 million to Parks Victoria’s 2023-24 finances, in addition to the planned redundancy of 100 staff members in the new year.

Despite these cuts, Labor is going ahead with their decision to add a further 44,000 hectares of land to Park Victoria’s responsibilities through the Wombat and Lerderderg state forests.

Member for Euroa, Annabelle Cleeland, said the loss of these crucial services was a consequence of the state government’s continual inability to control its out of control debt.

“Much like the cuts to funding and services at our hospitals and on our roads, the axing of critical services at Parks Victoria is directly related to Labor’s inability to manage money,” Ms Cleeland said.

“These are services that are necessary to protect the sustainability of our public land.

“The removal of dumped rubbish, including asbestos, was listed as ‘could do if resources permit’, while managing invasive feral animals – foxes, rabbits, deer, horses and bees and invasive plants – were listed as ‘only do if tied funded’.

“This is what happens when your debt is heading towards $186 billion and $26 million a day in interest alone.”

Ms Cleeland said the decision to add more land to the list of Parks Victoria responsibilities was hard to reconcile in the wake of the cuts.

“It is clear that Parks Victoria has struggled to manage the millions of hectares they already have,” Ms Cleeland said.

“Parks Victoria’s local assets like the Tallarook State Forest and Reef Hills in Benalla are already struggling to handle the amount of rubbish being dumped and the out-of-control blackberry growth.

“Now they are being asked to cover more ground with less staff, less funding, and less services that make forest management easier.

“It’s easy to understand why morale among staff is so low.”