Transcript for the Living Moorabool project video

Uncle Bryon Powell:

As you walk through here today just think about this place and what it has been for thousands of years.

Our trading resources, just up here the food that was along the river along here

where the flats are where this is the best place to camp.

The flats just over there the alluvial soil. It's in places like that that when our people passed away that's where we would put them back into the soil.

So this place is special please remember that please remember  that the thousands of years this place has sustained Wadawurrung people.

We've lived here, we've loved here, we've died here. On behalf our people when I respect my Elders my ancestors in spirits of my ancestors I say to you all welcome to Wadawurrung land.

Cameron Steele:

It was actually here I came to experience the river after the drought broke and the big difference was the sound there was water in the river.

The insects and the bird life and he the sound there was water in the river. The insects and the bird life, the place just hummed with life.

Give it a chance this river has the capacity to really capture the imagination. It vitally

needs more people experiencing what it has to offer and caring about its future.

People along with agencies and government working together for Living Moorabool that is for us what today is about.

Lisa Neville MP - Minister for Water:

One of the things we identified in the water plan was that there were ten first start waterways where we needed to have significant additional intervention and the Moorabool was one of the top ten as needing significant ongoing intervention from both our CMAs from Barwon water and from local communities and the City of Greater Geelong.

The work that's already gone on and the work that will be part of this 2.1 million dollar project here I think we'll start to see some really significant differences along parts of these waterways.

It involves for example flora and fauna diversity so again trying to manage some of the pests in our community the revegetation the riparian land management so keeping stock out of the waterway.

All of that will go to improving the quality of the water improving the habitat for our fish life and our platypus along here.

This project will also have a website and a map that will encourage community involvement and understanding of the Moorabool.

We've got a great base and we've just got to continue to protect it and build it and leave it in a great state for future generations.

That's what the Living Moorabool projects about it's about building that commitment now making the changes we

need to make but leaving for future generations hopefully a passion to continue to protect this river.

So I want to thank everyone who's been involved. I think the other unique thing here is we've got Barwon Water putting in some money as well and and putting their hand up to work with the CMA so that partnership between the community and our agencies and the council.

I think will also demonstrate across the state for our other water priority waterways what can be achieved together.

[On-screen text: The Living Moorabool is one of ten flagship waterway projects  across the state, funded as part of the Victorian Government's  record $222 million investment in waterways and catchments. ]