Document
Index
1999-2000 Ministerial Statements
Investing in our Natural and
Cultural Heritage
Chapter 5
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Document
Index |
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| Key Points: |
As an integrated approach to sustainable land and water management and the conservation of biodiversity, the Commonwealth will provide $382 million in 1999-2000 from the Natural Heritage Trust and related funds. Five major programmes are as follows.
Table 5.1: Land Resources and Forests—New Measures and Programme and Tax Expenditure Estimates
| Description | 1998–99 |
1999–00 |
2000–01 |
2001–02 |
2002–03 |
| NEW MEASURES | |||||
| Protecting Australia’s forests | – |
5.8 |
– |
– |
– |
| PROGRAMME AND TAX EXPENDITURE ESTIMATES | |||||
| Sustainable Agriculture | |||||
| National Landcare Programme | |||||
| Natural Heritage Trust | 59.4 |
50.9 |
46.0 |
49.9 |
na |
| Natural Resource Management Act (a) | 55.0 |
37.0 |
36.8 |
36.8 |
36.8 |
| Advanced Property Management Planning (FarmBis) (b) | 5.7 |
3.7 |
4.9 |
– |
– |
| Taxation | |||||
| Tax deduction for water conveying and Landcare activities | 30.0 |
30.0 |
30.0 |
30.0 |
na |
| Taxation allowance for drought preparedness | 9.0 |
10.0 |
10.0 |
na |
na |
| International sustainable agriculture (c) | 101.0 |
na |
na |
na |
na |
| Forests (d) | |||||
| Bureau of Rural Sciences | |||||
| National Forest Inventory | 1.0 | 0.5 | 0.3 | 0.1 | – |
| CRAs / RFAs (e) | 59.5 | 35.2 | – | – | – |
| International sustainable forestry | 18.5 | na | na | na | na |
| Plantations 2020 Vision | 1.0 |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.1 |
- |
| Farm Forestry (f) | 13.8 |
15.1 |
15.6 |
9.2 |
na |
| Assessing the Resource Base | |||||
| National Land and Water Audit | 12.2 |
10.5 |
10.5 |
5.0 |
– |
| CSIRO (total) (g) | 14.5 |
14.6 |
na |
na |
na |
| Catchment management and monitoring | 2.4 |
2.5 |
na |
na |
na |
| Land resources inventory | 1.9 |
2.1 |
na |
na |
na |
| Land degradation processes and management | 3.0 |
3.1 |
na |
na |
na |
| Remediation | 1.2 |
1.2 |
na |
na |
na |
| Integrated resource use and society | 1.7 |
1.7 |
na |
na |
na |
| Farm forestry | 4.0 |
4.0 |
na |
na |
na |
| Murray-Darling Basin land management work plan | 0.3 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| Tree planting strategies | na |
na |
na |
na |
na |
| Geoscience research and mapping | 5.6 |
5.6 |
5.6 |
– |
– |
| Bureau of Rural Sciences—various sustainable land and water resource progs. | 3.4 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
2.8 |
na |
| National Dryland Salinity Research, Development and Extension Programme | na |
na |
na |
na |
na |
| CRC for Sustainable Development of Tropical Savannas | 2.6 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
2.6 |
na |
| Mining and Land Rehabilitation | |||||
| Best practice in mining activities—Supervising Scientist Group | na |
na |
na |
na |
na |
Table 5.1: Land Resources and Forests—New Measures and Programme and Tax Expenditure Estimates (continued)
| Description | 1998–99 |
1999–00 |
2000–01 |
2001–02 |
2002–03 |
| National codes of practice for radioactive ore mining | 0.3 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
| Enhancing the Sustainability of the Mineral Sector | 0.2 |
– |
– |
– |
– |
| Alligator Rivers Region | na |
na |
na |
na |
na |
| ANSTO | 3.9 |
6.5 |
na |
na |
na |
| Maralinga | 16.5 |
19.8 |
– |
– |
– |
| CSIRO Minesite Rehabilitation Programme | 1.5 |
1.6 |
na |
na |
na |
| Railway contaminated site remediation | 9.5 |
15.7 |
– |
– |
– |
– denotes nil; na denotes not available.
In 1998-99, Trust-funded programmes supported 2857 community and State and Territory agency projects related to sustainable agriculture across Australia, through the ‘one-stop-shop’ process at a cost of $186.1 million, as follows:
Other funds were used nationally in 1998-99 to develop institutional and community frameworks and to support the long-term sustainable management of natural resources.
The NLP encourages integrated natural resource management at the farm, catchment and regional level. This programme therefore underpins a suite of Natural Heritage Trust programmes and the 4500 groups which comprise the Landcare movement in Australia. The NLP embodies the Landcare principle of collective action by the community to manage the environment and natural resources sustainably, in partnership with government, while recognising that individual resource managers and owners should take responsibility for the resources they own or control.
The NLP’s critical contributions to achieving Natural Heritage Trust objectives are to:
The NLP encourages strategic activities which result in improved on-ground outcomes and enhanced community capacity for change. The NLP strategies and priority actions focus on capacity building and on-ground action that contributes directly to the following outcomes:
Contact: Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Australia — 02 6272 4622
FarmBis has been established by the Government to drive cultural change towards the benefits of continuous learning. It aims to increase participation by farm families and operators in learning activities targeted to improve the profitability, competitiveness and sustainability of their business. FarmBis is not a ‘quick fix’, but an investment in the longer-term financial self-reliance and preparedness of the rural sector, the benefits of which will emerge over the medium term.
Additionally, FarmBis will enhance the capacity of farmers to identify, acquire and apply the business-management skills, information and practices they need. Over time, FarmBis will also stimulate providers to provide better targeted, flexible and responsive learning activities matched to the priorities of farmers.
To achieve the aims of FarmBis, which are shared by key stakeholders, will require a joint effort (including funding) between farmers, farm organisations, rural communities, governments and industry around Australia, increasingly working in partnership. Other programmes, such as Property Management Programme, have complementary aims to FarmBis and will contribute towards them. FarmBis will complement and build upon, not duplicate, existing programmes.
In this context, the objectives of FarmBis are to:
Contact: Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, Australia — 02 6272 5467
The Commonwealth provides deductions from taxable income for primary producers and rural businesses undertaking capital expenditures for storing and conveying water and for preventing and treating land degradation. These deductions are provided under Sections 387–130 and 387–55, respectively, of the Income Tax Assessment Act 1997 (formerly under Sections 75B and 75D of the 1936 Act). The Treasury estimates their cost to revenue to be about $30 million each year.
As part of the Natural Heritage Trust, $80 million has been allocated to fund a Landcare rebate of 34 cents in the dollar, effective from 1 July 1997. The rebate is available for the same type of expenditures as the current Section 387–55 and 387–130 deductions. There is an annual limit of $5,000 on expenditures that are eligible for the rebate under each of the subdivisions and the rebate is limited to taxpayers with incomes of up to $20,700 a year.
A five-year, 10 per cent taxation allowance is available for capital expenditure on drought preparedness assets of up to $50,000 per taxpayer each year. Eligible expenditure must be incurred before 1 July 2000. Deductions are also provided for rehabilitation-related activities on former sites of general mining, quarrying or petroleum operations or sites on which exploration or prospecting was conducted.
Contact: Australian Taxation Office — 02 6216 5780
Systems are being developed that will provide the agricultural industry and Government with the information needed to make sound decisions about sustainable land use. Topics include the extension of environmental auditing to agricultural industries through benchmarks for best practice for sustainable agriculture; risk management of pesticides and genetically modified organisms; and sustainable agricultural systems. Outcomes are the increasingly better management of systemic environmental impacts and adoption of sustainable agricultural practices and systems that set world standards.
Activities include:
Contact: Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Australia — 02 6272 3435
Agriculture and rural development sector activities are of fundamental importance in alleviating poverty. Nearly one billion people lack minimum nutritional requirements and the great majority of these people reside in the rural areas of developing countries. Modernisation of the agriculture sector can have a direct impact on poverty, while contributing to the generation of savings and other surpluses necessary for economic growth and social transformation.
| Box 5.1: Assistance to Agriculture in
Cambodia The Cambodia-Australia Agricultural Extension Project ($11.1 million) is assisting agriculture in Cambodia by implementing a human resource and institutional development programme so that a sustainable framework for a national agricultural extension system can be established. Project activities include training of management, field and support staff, particularly in the prioritising of extension work. The project is testing a range of methods including demonstrations, farmer field schools and mass media. The ultimate beneficiaries of the project will be Cambodian farmers and their families. |
Following the trend of recent years, Australian support for international agricultural development in 1999-2000 is estimated at around $101 million. This expenditure is concentrated in East Asia and the Pacific.
Australia’s aid programme contributes to the improvement of food security in developing countries. As well as food aid, Australia provides technical assistance, support for sustainable agriculture and agricultural research, and assistance with food distribution through marketing infrastructure and policy advice. Australia also provides assistance to United Nations development organisations that tackle trans-boundary problems such as desertification and other forms of land degradation.
Land degradation and desertification affect nearly 33 per cent of the earth’s land surface and the livelihoods of nearly 20 per cent of the world’s population, mainly in developing countries.
Australia supports projects that specifically address desertification including the $1 million Africa Programme to Combat Desertification. These funds are managed by the United Nations Development Programme and are used to engage Australian consultants to assist African countries prepare national environmental strategies to combat desertification. Another example is the proposed Alxa Environment Rehabilitation project. This project aims to control, or even halt, desertification, and eventually restore ecological balance to degraded land areas in western Mongolia through environmental management measures.
Contact: AusAID — 02 6206 4566
Since 1993, the Commonwealth has contributed $1.1 million towards the development of a National Strategy for Rangeland Management, involving considerable public input. Drawing from this work, the States, the Northern Territory, and the Commonwealth have agreed to a set of National Principles and Guidelines for Rangeland Management. The National Principles and Guidelines will act as a basis from which stakeholders will develop and implement strategies for rangeland management at a State and regional level.
Contact: Environment Australia, Biodiversity Group — 02 62742714
The National Forest Policy Statement (NFPS) sets out the broad conservation and industry goals for the management of Australia’s forests agreed between the Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments. Through the NFPS and in partnership with the States, the Commonwealth will:
Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) between the Commonwealth and the States are the primary means to achieve the goals of the National Forest Policy Statement. The Government will provide $5.8 million in 1999–2000 for finalising the RFA process.
The objective of Regional Forest Agreements (RFAs) is to provide a blueprint for the future management of our forests, which will help resolve the forest debate. The RFAs will provide both a world-class forest reserve system and the basis of an internationally competitive, value adding and sustainable forest and forest products industry.
RFAs are based upon comprehensive assessments of environmental, heritage, economic and social forest values. These assessments, known as Comprehensive Regional Assessments (CRAs) are scientifically rigorous, based upon the most up-to-date data, and involve extensive community and stakeholder input.
Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry—Australia is responsible for undertaking the social and economic assessments in cooperation with State Governments. These joint resource assessments include measurement of sustainable yields of production forests, measurement of the economic contribution of forest-based industries, the reporting on the application of principles of ecologically sustainable forest management for production forests, and consideration of options for forest-based industry development and community dependency on use of forests.
Environment Australia is responsible for undertaking jointly with State Governments, the environmental, heritage and national estate assessments. These assessments include wilderness, old growth, biodiversity, indigenous and world heritage values. RFAs identify how these values will be protected, either as part of the comprehensive, adequate and representative (CAR) reserve system or through off-reserve management. This is to ensure that the commercial management and use of forests outside the formal reserves system occurs in an ecologically sustainable way. Economic and social impacts are taken into account to ensure that the needs of regional communities are met and industry development opportunities are identified.
Regional Forest Agreements have been completed for Tasmania, Western Australia, and the East Gippsland and Central Highlands regions of Victoria. Commonwealth export controls no longer apply to wood sourced from native forests in these regions. Woodchip exports from areas not covered by RFAs will be prohibited from the year 2000. A Strategic Plan for the Private Land Component of the CAR Reserve System has been agreed between governments, as a component of the Tasmanian RFA.
The Tasmanian RFA included a Commonwealth Government commitment to provide financial assistance for employment and industry development (including plantation establishment and maintenance), voluntary conservation agreements to protect values on private land, and new reserve management. Funds also have been allocated to the Tasmanian Government for two interpretive centres to promote, among other things, an appreciation of Tasmania’s forests. Funding for the Tasmanian RFA will total $110 million of which $20 million is provided from the Natural Heritage Trust. Industry development in other States has been funded through the Forest Industry Structural Adjustment Programme (not included in this Budget Statement).
Regional Forest Agreements currently under negotiation will cover the major forest areas of South-east Queensland, the Eden, Upper and Lower Northeast and Southern regions of New South Wales, and the North East Gippsland and West regions of Victoria.
Contact: Environment Australia, Portfolio Strategies Group — 02 6274 1309
The National Forest Inventory (NFI), a cooperative programme between Commonwealth and State and Territory Governments and based in the Bureau of Rural Sciences, collects and communicates information on Australia’s total 156 million hectares of public and private, native and plantation forests. It provides a single authoritative source of data at the national level about the type, location, distribution, height, crown density, growth stage and/or planting date, ownership and protection status. Activities and outcomes include production of national forest statistics reported in Australia’s State of the Forests Report—1998, the National Plantation Inventory (NPI) 1997 and annual NPI reports Australian Forest Products Statistics, Australian Bureau of Statistics yearbooks and through a detailed website (www.brs.gov.au/nfi). Data describing criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management to meet nationally and internationally agreed frameworks are collated by the NFI and reported as part of Australia’s national and international reporting obligations. This includes Australia’s First Approximation Report to the Montreal Process in 1997, a current process to collate Category A regional indicators; and an FAO Temperate and Boreal Forests Resource Assessments 2000. Improved public knowledge on Australia’s forests is facilitated through the website State of the Forests Report,, maps and a publication series Australian Forest Profiles. The NFI is also involved in the development of protocols to promote nationally consistent data collection and data management standards.
The NFI was established in November 1988. In 1992, its role was endorsed in the National Forest Policy Statement, signed by all State and Territory Governments and the Commonwealth. In 1997, the NFI was renewed by a Commonwealth commitment to funding over four years through the National Land and Water Resources Audit, part of the Natural Heritage Trust.
Contact: Bureau of Rural Sciences — 02 6272 4299
The Commonwealth is providing $15.1 million in 1999-2000 for plantation, farm forestry and forest industry development. Under the National Forest Policy Statement and the Wood and Paper Industry Strategy, $3.7 million has been committed to projects to promote continued development of a diverse, internationally competitive forest industry based on ecologically sustainable management practices. The balance of $11.4 million will be provided through the Natural Heritage Trust to expand and enhance the Farm Forestry Programme. A further $15.6 million will be provided to the year 2000-01 from the Trust.
The aim of the Farm Forestry Programme is to encourage the incorporation of commercial tree growing and management into farming systems for the purpose of wood and non-wood production, increasing agricultural productivity and sustainable natural resource management.
The Farm Forestry Programme has four objectives.
The Farm Forestry Programme continues to raise the national awareness of farm forestry, promoting a shift in the culture of landowners towards growing trees for commercial purposes to meet economic and environmental objectives. In addition, under the programme 14 Regional Plantation Committees have been established to address planning and coordination issues at the regional level, and to act as a catalyst for plantation and farm forestry development. A national inventory of farm forestry is being compiled by the Bureau of Rural Sciences on behalf of the Programme.
Contact: Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Australia — 02 6272 3608
The Plantations 2020 Vision initiative builds on a target to treble the nation’s plantation estate over the period 1996-2020. This target was adopted by industry following the release of a joint Commonwealth-State-industry report. Funding is designed to facilitate and stimulate a substantial increase in private sector investment in plantation forestry. The strategy is outlined in the report, Plantations for Australia: The 2020 Vision, which was endorsed by Commonwealth, State and Territory Forestry Ministers in July 1997, following a presentation on the report from industry.
The primary objective of the Plantations 2020 Vision is to build internationally competitive and commercially oriented plantation growing and processing industries. It aims to ensure that plantation forestry in Australia presents as a model of environmental, social and economic sustainability.
Environmental benefits include a substantial contribution to reducing Australia’s net greenhouse gas emissions and improved land management outcomes. Other expected benefits include a turnaround in the trade deficit for wood and wood products, rural development (including creation of up to 40,000 jobs) and diversification of rural incomes.
The partners in the Plantations 2020 Vision, that is, the Commonwealth, the States and industry, are working to create an environment conducive for investment in plantations. Each of the partners has responsibilities for implementing the broad range of actions outlined in the Plantations 2020 Vision report. Activities currently being funded by the Commonwealth Government under the Plantations 2020 Vision include as follows.
Contact: Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Australia — 02 6272 4733
Australia provides support to a wide range of forest-sector activities as part of its international development assistance programme. These extend from large institutional strengthening activities to relatively small community forestry projects such as those implemented by non-government organisations. The diversity of assistance reflects the extensive needs that exist within the forestry sector of developing countries. Forestry activities supported by Australia are located mostly in Papua New Guinea, the Pacific, and South Asia.
Australia also supports forestry research activities through the Australian Centre for International Agricultural Research (ACIAR). ACIAR commissions collaborative research projects in developing countries, and promotes close interaction between Australian and developing country scientists in areas of common interest. Included in these research expenditures is core and project-specific funding to the Centre for International Forestry Research in Indonesia, and to the International Centre for Research in Agroforestry, in Kenya.
Australia continues to support initiatives associated with the work programmes of the Intergovernmental Forum on Forests and the Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission. This work includes, for example, implementation of a Code of Practice for Forest Harvesting in the Asia-Pacific region.
Other international forestry assistance provided by Australia includes financial contributions to the International Tropical Timber Organisation, the Global Environment Facility, the World Bank, and the Asian Development Bank.
| Box 5.2: Support for Sustainable Forest Management
in the Pacific The Solomon Islands Forest Management Project ($1.9 million) is designed to help the Solomon Islands Government manage its extensive forest resources more effectively. The project will strengthen the infrastructure and institutional arrangements required for sustainable forest management, and strengthen the sector’s policy, legal and regulatory framework. Project beneficiaries include the government’s forestry division, landowners, local communities and timber companies. In Vanuatu, the Sustainable Forest Utilisation Project ($5.4 million) is providing assistance in forests management and related operations. The project will strengthen national capacity in sustainable forest management by improving planning, minimising the environmental impact of logging, and maximising returns to resource owners and government. The project will also assist forest-based industry to develop timber products of acceptable standard for domestic and international markets. |
Contact: AusAID — 02 62064650
National Land and Water Resources Audit
The Audit provides data, analysis and appraisal to facilitate improved decision making on land, water, vegetation and natural resource management by building an Australia-wide information base. The Audit will complete its work by 30 June 2001. There are seven themes or areas of activity on which the Audit is concentrating:
A needs analysis has been undertaken by the Audit to identify key questions and information needs of resource managers. The themes of the Audit that arose from this analysis are:
Contact: Agriculture Fisheries and Forestry, Australia — 02 6272 5849
The CSIRO’s research on land resources supports the Government’s investment in sustainable natural resource management and is closely linked with the work on water (see Chapter 6). Allocations in 1999-2000 include:
The CSIRO is continuing to develop, with other agencies, and groups a plan for new work on an integrated approach to sustainable land management in the Murray-Darling Basin. Also the CSIRO is undertaking a number of projects to support the development of tree planting strategies for areas affected by salinity and where disposal of wastewater and saline water disposal is a concern.
Contact: CSIRO — 02 6276 6124
The Bureau of Rural Sciences and State Government agencies undertook a joint project to monitor rates of land clearing and tree planting across the 40 per cent of Australia used for agriculture. Landsat Thematic Mapper satellite data and other information was used to show that annual average rates of clearing of woody vegetation for cropping and grazing were around 293,170 hectares, about 100,000 hectares less than preliminary estimates made for the National Greenhouse Gas Inventory. The results of this study are being used to improve estimates of greenhouse gas emissions from land use change for the Inventory and will be used by research organisations and management agencies at State and local government levels for catchment modelling and planning and to address biodiversity conservation issues.
Contact: Bureau of Rural Sciences — 02 6272 4347
The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) coordinates the development of the national codes of practice to provide national uniformity in the development of State legislation and work practices controlling radiation practices, including the mining and milling of radioactive ores and the safe disposal of radioactive wastes. These codes are being revised currently.
Contact: Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency — 03 9433 2211
The Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) is involved in a number of activities related to the management of mine wastes. The ANSTO Managing mine wastes project (predicted expenditure of $3.4 million in 1999-2000) is to provide a sound scientific basis for making decisions on management of mine wastes. This project will identify key parameters, develop and apply measurement techniques and develop and apply computational tools for quantitatively assessing the effectiveness of mine waste management options.
ANSTO is also developing cleaner technology for uranium mining and milling and advanced oxidation technology for the treatment of water and waste water ($1.3 million in 1999-2000).
Contact: ANSTO — 02 9717 3537
The five-year monitoring and maintenance programme, which totalled more than $900,000, at the former Rum Jungle Uranium Mine in the Northern Territory was completed in 1997-98 and reviewed in 1998-99. The programme provided site monitoring to test the longer-term environmental response to rehabilitation, weed control and drainage structure repair.
Contact: Department of Industry, Science and Resources — 02 6272 5710
The Commonwealth Government will provide $1.6 million in 1999-2000 to the CSIRO’s Minesite Rehabilitation Programme.
Contact: CSIRO — 02 6276 6124
Under its existing lease, Phosphate Resources Ltd (PRL) is required to pay a levy to Parks Australia for rehabilitation of old mining sites. The lease imposes further environmental obligations requiring monitoring by the Commonwealth. These include a Dust Removal Project, to be completed by September 1999 at an estimated cost of $6.7 million, and a comprehensive environmental management plan. PRL is obliged to reduce levels of air pollution to acceptable levels, to rehabilitate mining areas for future development purposes (or for incorporation into the Christmas Island National Park) and to comply with a range of mainland environmental standards.
Contact: Department of Transport and Regional Services — 02 6274 8087
The former British nuclear test sites at Maralinga are undergoing rehabilitation through a $108 million project, to be completed in 1999-2000. The principal hazard at the test sites is plutonium contamination of soil and buried debris. Contaminated soil has been removed and buried, and the treatment of 21 plutonium contaminated debris pits has commenced. This project is expected to be completed by mid-2000.
The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) monitors the clean-up of residual radiation contamination from atomic weapons tests in Maralinga. ARPANSA has a contract with the Department of Industry, Science and Resources to delineate the soil removal area and to verify that the rehabilitation criteria have been met. In addition, ARPANSA provides a health physics auditing role, as well as, a lung monitoring service for the workers involved in the project.
Contact: Department of Industry, Science and Resources — 02 6272 5710
Contact: Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency — 03 9433 2211
The remediation of former Australian National Railways Commission (AN) land under the remediation project is almost complete, with most sites only requiring sign-off procedures to be conducted for finalisation. The management of the remediation has been outsourced to INDEC Consulting. It is expected that $9.5 million will be expended in 1998-99 and $15.7 million is to be provided in 1999-2000.
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