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Chapter 1: Introduction

Scope of the 2001-02 Environment Budget Statement

The Commonwealth Government regards conservation of the environment as one of its most important responsibilities and throughout its period in office has backed its commitment to the environment with substantial funding allocations. In 2001-02 that commitment continues.

In 2001-02 the Government will allocate $1.8 billion for the Environment and Heritage portfolio and for environmental initiatives across the rest of the Commonwealth Government; around $100 million more than in 2000-01.

The Government will provide $1 billion for the further five year extension of the Natural Heritage Trust, commencing in 2002-03. This funding, along with the $1.5 billion already provided and the $700 million for the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality, is the largest environmental funding commitment in Australia's history.

This statement documents the Government's spending on environment and environment-related activities for 2001-02 and the years ahead. It is presented as an overview of policy and expenditure not only for the Environment and Heritage portfolio but for the whole of the Commonwealth Government. It also identifies new measures managed by the Environment and Heritage portfolio and, where appropriate, the Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry portfolio.

Outline

Chapter 2 of this statement contains an overview of the environment-related activities in the 2001-02 Commonwealth Budget, as well as a description of new activities.

Chapter 3 describes the Commonwealth's major strategic directions for protecting the environment, and also includes some items of special interest.

Chapter 4, Key Environment Activities, examines the Government's environment-related programmes in more detail.

Chapter 5 illustrates how the Government is working with the Indigenous and international communities, and the contribution of volunteers to the environment.

Expenditure for environment-related activities undertaken by the Government is listed in Appendix 2.

Structure

To aid the reader, activities reported in this statement are grouped thematically. The themes reflect those to be used in the 2001 State of the Environment (SoE) Report, and are also aligned with the reporting structure of the Environment and Heritage portfolio. This means that the statement can be easily cross-referenced with other budget publications, particularly the 2001-02 Portfolio Budget Statement for Environment and Heritage, as well as non-budget publications such as the SoE Report. Table 1.1 illustrates the relationship between SoE reporting themes and the outcomes and outputs of the Environment and Heritage portfolio.

Table 1.1: Mapping Environment and Heritage outputs into SoE themes

SoE themes	Environment and Heritage outputs
Atmosphere	Protecting Australia's atmosphere Greenhouse - meeting the challenge of climate change Meteorology - benefiting the environment
Biodiversity	Identifying, protecting and conserving biodiversity Managing Commonwealth national parks and reserves
Coasts and Oceans	Protecting Australia's coasts and oceans
Human Settlements	Operating a world class assessment and approvals system Accelerating improved environmental performance by industry
Inland Waters	Protecting and rehabilitating the environmental values of inland waters
The Land	Conserving, rehabilitating and promoting sustainable land use
Natural and Cultural Heritage	Protecting and conserving Australia's heritage places
	Advancing Australia's interests in Antarctica(a)
	Integrated measures(b)

(a) Antarctica is an additional output that does not map directly to SoE themes. SoE themes relate to the Australian environment.

(b) Integrated measures are those not attributable to any one outcome or output.

Financial data and descriptions of programmes are based on information currently available. Identification of environment expenditure depends on the extent to which spending can be ascribed to environmental purposes, and this varies across programmes. Therefore some expenditure with environmental implications may not be recorded in this statement.

Unless otherwise indicated, all financial information presented in this statement represents the net cost to the Commonwealth. The figures do not include any goods and services tax which may be payable by the Commonwealth and is recoverable as an input tax credit.