The government says the project would restore tree canopy and biodiversity across the reserve, providing more shade and green space and creating additional habitat for wildlife.
Environment Minister Jaclyn Symes said local parks were places where communities came together. Albert Park MP Nina Taylor said the planting would help create a cooler, greener and more sustainable park for residents and wildlife.
Community group Lake ALIVE! described the pledge as welcome but overdue. Spokesperson Kelly Brennan said the funding was “just a drop in the lake” compared with the scale of problems facing the reserve.
She pointed to concerns about declining trees, the health of the lake and ageing infrastructure in a park the group says attracts 7.8 million visits each year.
“Albert Park has been neglected by successive governments for the past 30 years,” Brennan said. She said trees planted in the mid-1990s had been lost in storms, while others had been removed for the $395 million redevelopment of the Grand Prix pit building.
Lake ALIVE! says the park’s annual operating budget is below $5 million and wants election candidates to commit an additional $125 million over eight years, beginning with $20 million in the first year.
Brennan said the group was seeking long-term commitments to reverse neglect and restore the park’s health.
Labor framed the tree-planting pledge as part of its broader election pitch on suburban green space. The announcement did not specify when planting would begin or how the trees would be distributed across the reserve.
