March
4, 2004
NEW!
Click here to view the Environmental Diary of
Events
GENERAL
NEWS
1.
COMMONWEALTH PUSHES AHEAD WITH
NATIONAL WATER INITIATIVE
The Deputy Prime Minister, John
Anderson, has indicated that the Federal Government
is placing a high priority on negotiating and
signing the National Water Initiative with the
states and territories, and could hold an out-of-session
meeting of the Council of Australia Governments
(COAG) to progress the final agreement.
The proposal for a National Water Agreement was
agreed to by COAG in August last Year, and the
final intergovernmental agreement is expected
to be completed by July 1 this year.
Under the agreement, the Commonwealth will provide
$200 million, New South Wales and Victoria will
each contribute $115 million, South Australia
will contribute $65 million and the ACT will put
up $5 million towards the initiative in the Murray-Darling
Basin.
The aim of the initiative is to provide a nationally
consistent system of water access entitlements,
nationally functioning water markets, a system
for best-practice water pricing and the integrated
management of environmental water.
BACK
TO TOP>>
2.
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT WITHDRAWS COMMITMENT
TO QLD LANDCLEARING FUNDING
The Federal Government has withdrawn
its commitment to contribute $75 million to a
suite of initiatives to control landclearing in
Queensland.
The move follows the announcement by Queensland
Premier, Peter Beattie, prior to the recent election
that he was "tired of waiting for Federal
funding" and that the Queensland Government
would provide the entire $150 million if the Commonwealth
would not contribute their $75 million.
Speaking in Parliament, the Minister for Agriculture,
Fisheries and Forestry, Warren Truss, said that
the Queensland Government had failed to cooperate
with landholders and other stakeholders in developing
a new land clearing regime and had decided to
act unilaterally and without the support of the
Federal government.
Mr Truss said that the Queensland government
had made it "quite clear in those discussions
that the content of their legislation is not negotiable.
"They will not involve regional communities
in determining where clearing is appropriate,
they will not consult with farmers and they will
not consult with the Australian government. If
the Queensland government insists on taking unilateral
decisions then they must accept the responsibility
and the financial consequences of those decisions,"
Mr Truss said.
"The decision has been taken without regard
to science, without properly considering the needs
of the land-holders and without proper consultation
with the Australian government- and it will not
therefore have our financial support."
BACK
TO TOP>>
3.
REPORT CASTS DOUBT ON BIOFUEL
VIABILITY
The issue of government support
for biofuels continues to create controversy,
with a new report by CSIRO, the Australian Bureau
of Agricultural and Resource Economics (ABARE)
and the Bureau of Transport and Regional Economics
claiming that the cost of implementing a policy
to assist the biofuels industry would exceed the
benefits.
The report has been criticised by the Federal
member for the seat of Dawson, De-Anne Kelly,
who told the House of Representatives that the
agencies "had a great deal to explain"
about their report."
The report, Appropriateness of 350 million litre
biofuels target, said that while the production
of ethanol and biodiesel for transport use are
considered to be cost competitive with traditional
fuels over the medium to longer term, without
government assistance, it was not feasible for
the target of 350 million litres to be achieved
without substantial and ongoing Government assistance.
It concluded that "Assistance to the biofuel
industry would generate some benefits in terms
of health (via improvements in air quality), reductions
in greenhouse gas emissions and regional employment
opportunities. However, in all cases, these benefits
were found to be small and varied with the biofuel
source, production practices and utilisation circumstances."
Ms Kelly has criticised the accuracy of the report,
stating that that agencies had "made errors
a mathematical student in high school would not
be allowed to get away with."
BACK
TO TOP>>
4.
NEW LOW EMISSION TECHNOLOGY LEADERSHIP
GROUP
A new industry leadership group
has been established to explore low emission technology
options and provide advice to Federal Government
on these options, the status of international
research on these technologies and strategies
for implementation.
The CEO Low Emissions Technology Advisory Group,
chaired by Malcolm Broomhead of Orica Ltd, consists
of 13 leading Australian chief executives from
Australia's major mining, energy and manufacturing
companies.
The CEO's group will report on specific issues
including the most prospective opportunities available,
the timeframes required for implementation, the
current state of Australian research and short
to medium term options for reducing industry emissions.
BACK
TO TOP>>
5.
E-INCENTIVES FOR SHAREHOLDERS
Landcare Australia and Computershare
have an environmental initiative aimed at reducing
the number of hardcover company documents sent
out to shareholders each year.
The initiative - eTree - will see $2 donated
to Landcare Australia to a specified reforestation
project for every shareholder that registers to
receive their company documents electronically.
The $2 will be paid by participating listed companies,
whose shareholders take up the incentive.
eTree was conceived by Computershare, the investor
services and stakeholder communications company
that manages the share registers of approximately
60 per cent of Australia's listed entities. Computershare
will collect the donated funds from participating
listed companies and then hand the money over
to Landcare Australia.
For further information, go to http://www.eTree.com.au
BACK
TO TOP>>
CONFERENCES
6.
HAZMAT 2004
A two-day conference on the latest
directions and compliance requirements for Dangerous
Goods, Hazardous Substances, Global Harmonisation,
NICNAS, Prescribed Waste Disposal, Emergency Response,
Security, Liability Issues, etc
5-6 May 2004 Rydges Riverwalk - Melbourne
HazMat 2004 is presented by Fire Protection Association
Australia
The Hazmat 2004 Conference is designed to help
keep you up-to-date, raise issues and provide
good networking opportunities.
Chemicals are subject to a wide range of legislative
and good practice requirements covering import,
storage, handling, transport, manufacture, emissions
and disposal. Now all these areas have added "Security"
as a key issue.
The conference program has been designed by FPA
Australia and the key Chemical Industry and Professional
Associations to provide those who need to know,
in companies and authorities, with information
on developments and issues in this field.
The program has two key focuses:
Day 1: International and Australian Chemical
Management.
Day 2: Chemical Incident Prevention and Response.
Cost: Non Members $770, Members $660, Distance
Registrations $550
This conference has proved to be a very successful
event in the HazMat Calendar and continues to
grow each year.
For further information: http://www.fpaa.com.au/events/events.htm
Fire Protection Association Australia
P O Box 1049, Box Hill VIC 3128
T: 03 9890 1544 F: 03 9890 1577 E: events@fpaa.com.au
BACK
TO TOP>>
7.
GROUNDWATER SHORT COURSES 2004
'Carrots, Sticks and Toolkits'
12 - 14 May, 2004
Radisson at the Pier, Cairns
PROGRAM FINALISED & REGISTRATION NOW OPEN
'Carrots, Sticks and Toolkits' - the 2004 QELA
conference title recognises that traditional regulatory
regimes in the planning and environment area have
generally applied a carrot and stick approach
to compliance and achieving desired results. Over
the last 10 years in particular though the desire
has increasingly been to find other more innovative
ways of achieving better outcomes across a range
of areas i.e., "the toolkits".
It is appropriate at this time of rapid growth
in Queensland to draw breath and consider what
has and what has not worked in terms of new regulatory
approaches, how regulation might be improved,
what might need to be abandoned and what might
need to be improved or implemented in order to
ensure the efficiency of planning and environment
regulation both in terms of the regulatory burden
it imposes, and the sustainability paradigm new
generation planning and environment regulation
seeks to promote.
Keynote Speaker - His Honour Justice Ian Callinan,
High Court of Australia.
The complete program and online registration
are available at: http://www.qela.com.au/annualconference2004_registration_info.shtml
BACK
TO TOP>>
8.
10TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON VOLUNTEERING
Volunteering Australia is pleased
to announce the 10TH NATIONAL CONFERENCE ON VOLUNTEERNG
Melbourne, 2 - 4 June 2004
Volunteering - evolution, devolution or revolution?
The conference explores recent developments in
volunteering and is a must for anyone with an
interest in the benefits and future of volunteering.
Two international keynote speakers, Ms Paddy
Bowen, formerly President of Volunteer Canada
and Mr George Thomson, Chief Executive of Volunteer
Development Scotland, will present a wealth of
experience, knowledge and diverse opinions in
the area of volunteering and Senator The Hon.
Kay Patterson, Minister for Family and Community
Services is invited to open the conference
Among the list of Australian keynote speakers
are Raelene Boyle, David Gonski, Robert Fitzgerald
and John Thwaites, Minister for Victorian Communities.
Cost of attending the 3-day conference is $425
(GST inclusive) per delegate with an early bird
rate of $375 available until 19 April 2004.
Full provisional program details and registration
brochure are available from the Volunteering Australia
web site at http://www.volunteeringaustralia.org
BACK
TO TOP>>
9.
12TH AUSTRALASIAN REMOTE SENSING
AND PHOTOGRAMMETRY CONFERENCE
Fremantle, Western Australia
18-22nd October 2004
This conference has a major focus on geoscience
and environmental spectral remote sensing and
photogrammetry.
Papers are welcome on the following themes:
- ASTER, MODIS and High Spatial Resolution Sensors:
Applications and Processing
- Hyperspectral Sensors: Applications and Data
Processing
- Existing and New sensors: Applications and Data
Processing
- Thermal infrared Applications and Data Processing
- RADAR Applications and Data Processing
- Agricultural, Marine, Rangelands and Bush Fires
management applications
- Field/Mine Technologies: Applications and Data
Processing
- Laser scanning (airborne and terrestrial)
- High resolution satellite imagery (Ikonos, QuickBird)
- Digital photogrammetry (aerial and terrestrial)
- Mineral and Petroleum Exploration
- Regolith and Soil Mapping
- Geological and Ecological Mapping
- Mine and Petroleum Environments
- Mars and Related Analogues on Earth
- Automatic Monitoring of land surface changes
- Data Integration (Geophysics, Geochemistry,
Ecology, DEMs with Spectral Data)
- Operational products and delivery systems.
More than a full program of geoscience and environmental
papers/posters is scheduled for the conference,
with related workshops planned before and after.
For further details please see
http://www.rss.dola.wa.gov.au/12arspc
Abstract deadline 1 April 2004
BACK
TO TOP>>
WORKSHOPS AND EVENTS
INTERNATIONAL
COMMISSION ON IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE - INVITATION
TO "SUSTAINING OURSELVES THROUGH INDIGENOUS
PHILOSOPHY"
Linga Longa Aboriginal Philosophy Week 2004 is
a tranquil gathering on the Mid North Coast of
NSW with relevance to anybody interested in the
environmental sustainability of Australia. It
is open to both Indigenous and Non-Indigenous
people with access to Elders and Teachers from
a culture that continues to sustain itself and
its environment in relative harmony through the
sacred relationship to Country.
Aboriginal Philosophy Week is the week after
Easter April 12 - 17 and is strictly limited to
150 people. Uncle Bob Randall, Uncle Max Harrison,
Kakkib Lidthia Warraweea, Dory Randall, Owen Dennison
and Jack Beetson (among others to be confirmed)
will provide access to the traditional and contemporary
knowledge that has sustained the oldest living
culture on the planet.
Each day there are informal workshops such as
Bush Tucker, Bush Medicine, Relationship to Country,
Dance, Kinship, Art and Spiritual Growth. Group
discounts are available. Participants can be picked
up and dropped off from public transport or the
Port Macquarie Airport.
For more information, visit http://www.aboriginalphilosophyfarm.com
or contact Richmond on lingalonga@midcoast.com.au
or 02 6582 6441 for registration details
BACK
TO TOP>>
AWARDS
11.
GREEN CORPS - YOUNG AUSTRALIANS
FOR THE ENVIRONMENT: CALL FOR APPLICATIONS FOR
PROJECTS COMMENCING AUGUST 2004
Applications are open to organisations
with an interest in seeing significant environment
or heritage work being undertaken by Green Corps
participants. Such organisations include community,
youth and environmental establishments and local,
State and Commonwealth Government agencies with
an interest in contributing to Australia's natural
and cultural heritage. All works undertaken under
the Green Corps program must be consistent with
appropriate environmental government strategies
and acts.
Closing date for applications is 23 April 2004.
Please contact your Green Corps state office on
the number below for more details.
Call 1800 077 700 or visit Green Corps website
www.greencorps.com.au
Green Corps is an Australian Government initiative
proudly delivered by Job Futures and Greening
Australia.
BACK
TO TOP>>
|
