Time to reflect for retiring MLC

The sun has almost set on Diane Evers’ tenure as MLC for the South West region as she prepares to leave office and be replaced by the incoming Jackie Jarvis. Reflecting on her time in politics before her stint officially comes to an end on May 24, the Greens member detailed how she first chose the path after arriving in the region with her family. “I first put my hand up to be in local government in 1999 when the Albany Shire and the town amalgamated,” she said. “The town had a lot of pretty things and a lot of debt ... I lived in the shire and my interest was to make sure the town did not spend the shire’s money on unnecessary items.” While in office Ms Evers was a vocal opponent against the native forest logging industry. An industry she says the State Government has “failed abysmally” to stamp down on. “You’ve gotta separate native forest logging and plantation logging,” she said. “Native forest logging needs to stop. “Native forest needs to be preserved because we are losing our forest, we are losing our biodiversity, we are losing that climate moderation by being able to absorb carbon.” Another long-term project which was unveiled earlier in her time in office was the Southern Forest Irrigation Scheme. Ms Evers said it was her best moment in office when a meeting with a few farmers from the Manjimup area to discuss the scheme developed into something much bigger. “We showed up at Glenoran Pool and over the course of the next half an hour we had about 110 people arrive to see a Greens member of Parliament speaking in Manjimup,” she said. Labor’s Jackie Jarvis is set to replace the Greens MLC on May 24.