Submission in response to The Draft Yarra Strategic Plan prepared by Environmental Justice Australia (EJA) and the Yarra Riverkeeper Association (YRKA) 28 March 2020 Environmental PO Box 12123 T (03) 8341 3100 Justice Australia A'Beckett Street PO F (03) 8341 3111 ABN 74052124375 Melbourne VIC 8006 E
[email protected] L3, 60 Leicester St, Carlton W www.envirojustice.org.au For further information on this submission, please contact: For Environmental Justice Australia: Dr Bruce Lindsay, Senior Lawyer For Yarra Riverkeeper Association: Andrew Kelly, Yarra Riverkeeper T: 03 8341 3100 (EJA), 0408 850 810 (YRKA) Submitted to:
[email protected] 28 March 2020 Environmental Justice Australia 2 1. Introduction This submission is made jointly by Environmental Justice Australia (EJA) and the Yarra Riverkeeper Association (YRKA). EJA was established more than 30 years ago as a legal practice focused on public interest environmental law and in that time has worked in a wide range of environmental, planning and natural resource law issues and cases. EJA undertakes litigation, law and policy reform, campaigns and community legal education. YRKA is a nongovernmental organisation that was established in order to provide a ‘voice’ for the Yarra River and its communities. YRKA has engaged extensively for more than a decade on campaigning, policy reform and community engagement for the protection, improvement and restoration of the River. EJA and YRKA have worked closely and collaboratively for law and policy reform for the Yarra River since 2014. In that year, YRKA published a proposal for a Yarra River Act and a single trust to manage the river corridor.