The Upper Loddon Landcare group wrote to Mr Walsh early last year with concerns about lack of previous state government follow-up for gorse infestations.

Upper Loddon Landcare secretary, John Cable, said he wrote a letter to the minister explaining that work had occurred but, given the regenerative nature of gorse, follow-up action needed to be taken.

Minister Walsh said: "I am now pleased to say that thanks to an additional $21.2 million we allocated in the state budget to boost the fight against pests and weeds, the situation has improved dramatically."

"Departmen t of Primary Industries officers have inspected 143 properties in the Glenlyon, Lauriston and Ashbourne areas since July 2011," he said.

"We take the issue of weed control very seriously and DPI officers will be returning to the inspected properties in February to follow up on compliance," Mr Walsh said.

Mr Walsh, along with landcare members, a representative from the DPI and local contractor John Comelli, met on Mr Comelli's grandmother's property to discuss the best way to tackle gorse.

Mr Comelli said he was getting good results by completely soaking gorse with chemicals, such as Graze On herbicide, combined with a wetting agent.

"Plants need good coverage, and we're starting to see the benefits of mulching after treatment," Mr Comelli said.

Mr Comelli demonstrated the use of a mulcher on treated gorse for the minister. Mr Walsh said although most landholders had been very good, the government was committed to taking action against those landholders who allowed their properties to become a haven for pests and weeds.

"The fact that more than one in five properties inspected required an improvement notice is proof the state went backwards under Labor's approach," Mr Walsh said.

Mr Walsh said DPI inspectors would target weed enforcement actions to support communities where landholders were working together to co-ordinate pest control action, such as landcare groups or weed taskforces.

He said the department would implement 90 weed enforcement projects across Victoria to support community-led action on weeds.