Document
Index
1999-2000 Ministerial Statements
Investing in our Natural and
Cultural Heritage
Chapter 11
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Document
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Successful efforts to protect and enhance the environment require the combined efforts
of governments at all levels, corporations, community groups and individuals.
Information is essential to this combined effort, and not least information on the nature
and size of spending on the environment.
The Budget Statement on the Commonwealth's environment expenditure is part of the
Commonwealth's contribution to answering the need for information on government actions.
It documents such spending mostly under different aspects of the environment, such as
inland waters, oceans or the atmosphere. It covers Commonwealth spending in direct forms,
as well as indirectly through the tax system in the form of tax concessions.
This is the third such Budget Statement. Apart from providing spending figures, both
summary and specific, it has proven to be a valuable reference for written descriptions of
Commonwealth Government environment-related activities across portfolios. Provision in the
text of this third Statement of the names of the relevant agency or department with a
phone contact number will make it even more user-friendly.
A fundamental aspect of ecologically sustainable development (ESD) is the integration of
economic and environmental policies and decisions. The Budget Statement is a reflection of
the Government's commitment to ESD, as the Statement shows the extent to which
environmental considerations are included in spending decisions in other areas.
As well as recording ongoing environmental spending and policy involvement across most
Commonwealth portfolios, and new spending in areas such as Oceans policy and Living
Cities, this Budget Statement records how spending on the Natural Heritage Trust will be
extended a further year with an allocation of $250 million being added to the
original $1 billion.
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