❓ The Premier announces the signing of the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality, highlighting negotiations with the Commonwealth to ensure WA's interests are met and outlining four immediate projects to be funded.
AnsweredQoN 1043Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
Can the Premier advise when he will sign the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality? Dr GALLOP
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Bunbury for the question. I preface my answer by congratulating Goolarri Media Enterprises in Broome for winning the open craft award for the Mary G television show as part of the Tudawali awards that were presented in Sydney on 19 May. I do this because I believe the Mary G show is making an important contribution to reconciliation. It is to the credit of Goolarri Media and Mary Geddardyu that they are having the success that they are having in spreading the reconciliation message with good humour, good social commentary and, of course, a lot of Kimberley folklore. I ask the member for Kimberley to pass on my congratulations to Goolarri Media for winning that award. I am pleased to announce that I have signed the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality. That agreement arose out of the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in November 2000. A lot of negotiating has taken place since that time. We have now signed that agreement. We hope to resolve some issues about the bilateral arrangements, but we have agreed to the overall framework. We had a number of concerns about the IGA, and we negotiated with the Commonwealth to ensure that we got the best deal for the State. We want an arrangement in which the Western Australian position on salinity is funded jointly by the State and the Commonwealth, rather than a position in which we are dictated to by the Commonwealth in a way that does not meet the needs of the State. I am pleased to say that we have been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth for a successful approach that has moved away from the one size fits all attitude that the Commonwealth normally takes to these issues. Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
Dr GALLOP replied: I thank the member for Bunbury for the question. I preface my answer by congratulating Goolarri Media Enterprises in Broome for winning the open craft award for the Mary G television show as part of the Tudawali awards that were presented in Sydney on 19 May. I do this because I believe the Mary G show is making an important contribution to reconciliation. It is to the credit of Goolarri Media and Mary Geddardyu that they are having the success that they are having in spreading the reconciliation message with good humour, good social commentary and, of course, a lot of Kimberley folklore. I ask the member for Kimberley to pass on my congratulations to Goolarri Media for winning that award. I am pleased to announce that I have signed the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality. That agreement arose out of the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in November 2000. A lot of negotiating has taken place since that time. We have now signed that agreement. We hope to resolve some issues about the bilateral arrangements, but we have agreed to the overall framework. We had a number of concerns about the IGA, and we negotiated with the Commonwealth to ensure that we got the best deal for the State. We want an arrangement in which the Western Australian position on salinity is funded jointly by the State and the Commonwealth, rather than a position in which we are dictated to by the Commonwealth in a way that does not meet the needs of the State. I am pleased to say that we have been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth for a successful approach that has moved away from the one size fits all attitude that the Commonwealth normally takes to these issues. Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
I thank the member for Bunbury for the question. I preface my answer by congratulating Goolarri Media Enterprises in Broome for winning the open craft award for the Mary G television show as part of the Tudawali awards that were presented in Sydney on 19 May. I do this because I believe the Mary G show is making an important contribution to reconciliation. It is to the credit of Goolarri Media and Mary Geddardyu that they are having the success that they are having in spreading the reconciliation message with good humour, good social commentary and, of course, a lot of Kimberley folklore. I ask the member for Kimberley to pass on my congratulations to Goolarri Media for winning that award. I am pleased to announce that I have signed the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality. That agreement arose out of the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in November 2000. A lot of negotiating has taken place since that time. We have now signed that agreement. We hope to resolve some issues about the bilateral arrangements, but we have agreed to the overall framework. We had a number of concerns about the IGA, and we negotiated with the Commonwealth to ensure that we got the best deal for the State. We want an arrangement in which the Western Australian position on salinity is funded jointly by the State and the Commonwealth, rather than a position in which we are dictated to by the Commonwealth in a way that does not meet the needs of the State. I am pleased to say that we have been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth for a successful approach that has moved away from the one size fits all attitude that the Commonwealth normally takes to these issues. Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
I am pleased to announce that I have signed the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality. That agreement arose out of the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in November 2000. A lot of negotiating has taken place since that time. We have now signed that agreement. We hope to resolve some issues about the bilateral arrangements, but we have agreed to the overall framework. We had a number of concerns about the IGA, and we negotiated with the Commonwealth to ensure that we got the best deal for the State. We want an arrangement in which the Western Australian position on salinity is funded jointly by the State and the Commonwealth, rather than a position in which we are dictated to by the Commonwealth in a way that does not meet the needs of the State. I am pleased to say that we have been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth for a successful approach that has moved away from the one size fits all attitude that the Commonwealth normally takes to these issues. Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
Dr GALLOP replied: I thank the member for Bunbury for the question. I preface my answer by congratulating Goolarri Media Enterprises in Broome for winning the open craft award for the Mary G television show as part of the Tudawali awards that were presented in Sydney on 19 May. I do this because I believe the Mary G show is making an important contribution to reconciliation. It is to the credit of Goolarri Media and Mary Geddardyu that they are having the success that they are having in spreading the reconciliation message with good humour, good social commentary and, of course, a lot of Kimberley folklore. I ask the member for Kimberley to pass on my congratulations to Goolarri Media for winning that award. I am pleased to announce that I have signed the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality. That agreement arose out of the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in November 2000. A lot of negotiating has taken place since that time. We have now signed that agreement. We hope to resolve some issues about the bilateral arrangements, but we have agreed to the overall framework. We had a number of concerns about the IGA, and we negotiated with the Commonwealth to ensure that we got the best deal for the State. We want an arrangement in which the Western Australian position on salinity is funded jointly by the State and the Commonwealth, rather than a position in which we are dictated to by the Commonwealth in a way that does not meet the needs of the State. I am pleased to say that we have been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth for a successful approach that has moved away from the one size fits all attitude that the Commonwealth normally takes to these issues. Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
I thank the member for Bunbury for the question. I preface my answer by congratulating Goolarri Media Enterprises in Broome for winning the open craft award for the Mary G television show as part of the Tudawali awards that were presented in Sydney on 19 May. I do this because I believe the Mary G show is making an important contribution to reconciliation. It is to the credit of Goolarri Media and Mary Geddardyu that they are having the success that they are having in spreading the reconciliation message with good humour, good social commentary and, of course, a lot of Kimberley folklore. I ask the member for Kimberley to pass on my congratulations to Goolarri Media for winning that award. I am pleased to announce that I have signed the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality. That agreement arose out of the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in November 2000. A lot of negotiating has taken place since that time. We have now signed that agreement. We hope to resolve some issues about the bilateral arrangements, but we have agreed to the overall framework. We had a number of concerns about the IGA, and we negotiated with the Commonwealth to ensure that we got the best deal for the State. We want an arrangement in which the Western Australian position on salinity is funded jointly by the State and the Commonwealth, rather than a position in which we are dictated to by the Commonwealth in a way that does not meet the needs of the State. I am pleased to say that we have been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth for a successful approach that has moved away from the one size fits all attitude that the Commonwealth normally takes to these issues. Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
I am pleased to announce that I have signed the intergovernmental agreement for the national action plan for salinity and water quality. That agreement arose out of the meeting of the Council of Australian Governments in November 2000. A lot of negotiating has taken place since that time. We have now signed that agreement. We hope to resolve some issues about the bilateral arrangements, but we have agreed to the overall framework. We had a number of concerns about the IGA, and we negotiated with the Commonwealth to ensure that we got the best deal for the State. We want an arrangement in which the Western Australian position on salinity is funded jointly by the State and the Commonwealth, rather than a position in which we are dictated to by the Commonwealth in a way that does not meet the needs of the State. I am pleased to say that we have been able to negotiate with the Commonwealth for a successful approach that has moved away from the one size fits all attitude that the Commonwealth normally takes to these issues. Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
Mr Bradshaw: Why do all the States not gang up and tell the federal Government that they want funds, but with no strings attached? Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
Dr GALLOP: That is always a problem in these areas. We already do that, in fact, on specific programs. The Minister for Training had that problem with a program, as did the Minister for the Environment and Heritage with the Natural Heritage Trust. We have also experienced that problem in a range of other areas. One of the consistent themes in our Federation is that the Commonwealth adopts that attitude. We went in there fighting for the State’s interests, as did the previous Government, and I am pleased to say that we were able to sign up on the agreement. We now want to move forward with the bilateral arrangements, which of course deliver on the ground. I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
I am pleased to announce to the Parliament today that immediately upon signing the intergovernmental agreement, we went to the Commonwealth and identified four projects that we would like to get up and running. These projects will enable funding to start flowing very shortly and provide practical examples of how the State and Commonwealth can work together in fighting salinity through the national action plan. The first project that we have identified is an engineering evaluation initiative, which is a state government commitment to evaluate engineering options for mitigating the impacts of salinity, such as deep drainage, ground water pumping, relief wells and surface water management. The second is the Collie River recovery. We want to join with the Commonwealth in a trial ground water pumping scheme in the east Collie to assess the potential for dewatering the east Collie catchment, leading to fresher water into the Collie River at the Wellington Dam, a matter that I discussed with the member when I was in Collie a few weeks ago. The third is support for regional groups by providing foundation funding to assist the four regional groups in the south west agricultural region in revising and finalising their regional natural resource management plans against the accreditation criteria; and incentives for natural vegetation management. Finally, we want funding to expand the provision of management advice and support, including the integration of current programs such as Land for Wildlife, which currently has a 12-month backlog of requests. In signing this agreement, we have ensured that the State’s interests are protected, and we hope that particular projects will be up and running as soon as possible.
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Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.