Peter Garrett
Address by Peter Garrett AM to National Press Club
Date: 20-May-2005
* Dowload a pdf version of ACF's A National Agenda for a Sustainable Australia
* Download a pdf version of this address
National Environment Test: How do our politicians score?
I'd like to begin by acknowledging we are meeting on Ngunnawal land and offer respects to the elders and traditional owners.
Late last year millions of Australians sat the National IQ te st; last night on TV and at home millions sat the National Drivers test. These tests have captured the imagination of many so we want to extend the testing to our leaders on the subject of the environment-a subject whose time is now.
I can clearly state that as a nation we're failing ourselves and our kids on care for the environment. Know that we can and must do better, I want to look at what needs to be done and how our political leaders rate on the national environment test
It's not only a test of whether their policies will turn around the damage to our fragile land. It's also a test of how well they are listening to Australians who are speaking up for a cleaner, smarter and greener future.
On this last score ACF judges that both major parties might be slowly waking up to how deep the environmental concern is within mainstream Australia. At the same time we believe they remain well short of the action required.
This slow awakening is showing up in our research, which I'll share with you later, and in other polling too. Judging by the recent statements of both parties, we think its starting to show up in their research as well.
Primarily ACF believes Australia needs a bold package of sustainability reforms to not only protect and repair this battered ancient land, but also generate jobs and a healthy economy.
We reckon there are five key tests for a sustainable Australia. And we need to pass them all if we are to protect our natural heritage and develop an Australian economy & a society free from environmental damage for the generations that follow.
The five tests are:
1. Show national leadership - by a commitment to sustainability reforms which matches the commitment to competition reforms of the last decade. Prime amongst these is a Council of Australian Governments backed Sustainability Council with funding and powers akin to the National Competition Council. And additionally showing national leadership, means being held accountable to real and substantial environmental outcomes.
2. Cut greenhouse pollution - not only by ratification of the Kyoto Protocol, but through a package of measures including higher renewable energy targets, revenue neutral emissions trading and a bold attack on our grossly inefficient use of energy.
3. Repair our land and rivers - repair rivers like the Murray with more water flowing down it and turn around the loss of our bushland by ending land clearing. Only then will we stop the curse of salinity poisoning our environment, farms and towns.
4. Protect great natural areas - the Great Barrier Reef, Cape York and the great old growth forests of Tasmania are national treasures future generations won't enjoy unless strong protections are put in place now
5. Support sustainable living - give greater support for Australians wanting to take action to help the environment by, for example, going solar or adding rainwater tanks.
And there can be no sustainable living if Australia is still caught in the toxic nuclear cycle - building new nuclear reactors and creating very long lived radioactive waste.
Today I'm launching a "National Agenda for a Sustainable Australia." which details the damage being done to our ecological infrastructure, Australia's international performance and the policies needed if we are to turn around environmental damage. We're drawing a line in the sand as to what Australians should expect of their governments when it comes to taking adequate care of this country.
The Greens and Democrats have supported substantial elements of this agenda. This role is acknowledged and welcomed and we invite them to embrace this more comprehensive reform package over the coming term. Their scrutinising and advocacy role will be important.
Why are these five tests so critical? Because the way in which we look after our air, water, plants and animals has never been so downright bad.
Per capita we are the highest greenhouse polluters in the world.
The CSIRO tells us that climate chaos from greenhouse pollution will hurt Australia as much as anywhere, with even more intense droughts, floods and storms, more fire prone days, even the Great Barrier Reef is in jeopardy
Our rivers are in dire health. Without more water, up to half the native fish species in the Murray are at risk and just about all the mighty river redgums downstream of Mildura will be lost.
Per capita we use more water than on any continent. This on the driest continent bar Antarctica - a hard place to get a drink.
And just last month we saw the damning release of the Government's most comprehensive stocktake of our Aussie mammals, birds and plants.
This Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Audit delivered a stark warning of the 'environmental debt' (their term) soon to be paid out of our natural treasure chest unless there is urgent action on land clearing and poor land management practices.
One third of the planets recent mammals extinctions are Australian animals we'll never see again, and that's the worst in the world.
It makes this national environmental crisis a social and economic crisis too. Greenhouse pollution and the climate chaos it causes will worsen asthma, increase mosquito borne diseases, lead to higher insurance premiums and put further stress on our farmers.
In Australia we are like a dirty nineteenth century economy wasting energy and water and producing lots of greenhouse pollution, not a clean and efficent twenty first century one.
Salinity from our outdated land and water practices is poisoning drinking water, knocking out farms and ruining buildings, roads and pipe networks. $1.2 billion of agricultural production is lost annually due to land degradation. The Prime Ministers own advisers estimate the annual fix up bill is $2 to $6 billion dollars. That's an annual cost all Australians have to bear.
We risk denying our kids, and their kids, natural assets like the Great Barrier Reef and Kakadu that bring billions of tourism dollars.
And yet a crisis like this is an opportunity to find solutions and benefit from innovative action.
For instance there's a big slab of Australian business that sees opportunity in the international market to be set up under Kyoto and, which like us, can't see the sense in the Government's goal of achieving the Kyoto target but excluding Australia from that market by refusing to ratify Kyoto.
It's plain stupid! Renewable energy is one of the fastest growing job generators around and the global clean and energy efficiency market is estimated to be worth billions of dollars in the next few years.
Yet the government is slashing renewables research and is seriously considering the recommendation of coal baron and ex-senator Warwick Parer to knock out renewable targets.
In water, moving from wastefulness to sustainable use won't only save our rivers, it can drive the development of new and globally marketable, water efficiency technologies.
With national leadership in sustainability reforms, looking after the environment is not an obstacle, instead it can be a driver of our economy.
The Environment is a top tier issue.
Now here's a key question. Is something curious happening in the minds of our national political leaders?
Are they starting to realise that the Australian people want them to stop stuffing up the country? That you can't marginalise a majority?
There are reasons to believe we may be seeing the early signs of a new recognition.
In the last two months, the Government has come out with good proposals - not firm decisions yet - on land clearing and the Great Barrier Reef.
The Opposition has built on solid policies on those two issues and Kyoto ratification by adding a clear commitment to save the Murray Darling.
The major parties are starting to talk the talk because ordinary Australians in the suburbs and towns are no longer just saying we need to stop damaging the environment. Critically they are now saying we need to undo the damage already done, adding their voice to the minor parties already firm position.
And increasingly people talk about the economic cost of not protecting the environment. They see good environmental policies as common sense and they understand the issues as never before.
I particularly want to look at the performance of the Government and Opposition, how in tune they are with mainstream Australia.
The First Test: Show National Leadership
Last month John Howard said one of his third term priorities was to make people believe the Coalition is sensitive to the environment.
'The Australian' reported the Prime Minister declaring the environment a "mainstream issue" nominating salinity, water rights and tree clearing as three needing policy and money. So why has the Howard Government started tentatively to consider some tough environment decisions?
And why has Simon Crean elevated environment to one of his top three issues?
Here's an insight.
Newspoll has for the last two years found the environment in the top three or four when they asked people what issues were very important for how they would vote in a federal election. In February of this year the environment rates at 62% just behind leadership at 64% with health at 77% and education 79%.
This month, Morgan polling also has environment rating fourth, with an almost doubling of concern since October 2001.
ACF's research is also picking up this trend.
We asked whether people thought the major parties were concerned enough about the environment.
46% of respondents said the ALP was not concerned enough about the environment. The Liberals were slightly behind, with 54% saying they were not concerned enough. (slide 1).
Importantly people no longer accept that we can or should trade off the environment for economic development.
For when asked which is more important, the health of our environment for future generations or the health of our economy for future generations, the environment won almost 3 to 1 - 64% environment, 19% economy and 17% undecided. (slide 2)
This seachange in thinking clears the way for resolute action. But we urgently need a powerful driver for sustainability in Australia.
The Prime Minister is to be commended for chairing a sustainability Cabinet sub-committee, but it is not sufficient in itself.
A serious COAG sustainability policy and a strong and independent Sustainability Council with powers akin to the National Competition Policy is urgently required in a Federal system where environmental problems cross state borders.
With national problems on this scale we need nothing less. This drive to COAG embracing sustainability deserves the support of both major parties and the business community.
Late last week I met with the NSW and Victorian Premiers Bob Carr and Steve Bracks. Both are seriously interested in advancing sustainability reforms. Both recognise the reforms needed are on par with last decade's competition reforms. And so there is real opportunity for change.
Second Test: Cut Greenhouse Pollution
When people were asked whether Australian greenhouse gas emissions should be reduced or left at existing levels, 78% wanted them reduced (slide 3).
This when our deal under the Kyoto protocol allows us to increase greenhouse pollution by 8%.
Despite these clear views, the Howard Government is still refusing to ratify the Kyoto Protocol.
Apparently they'll deliver on the Kyoto targets but won't ratify the agreement.
This nonsensical position is difficult to explain particularly as many Australian businesses are screaming about being locked out of the potentially lucrative Kyoto market.
Mr Howard is often lauded for being in step with the views and wishes of ordinary Australians so the question arises; Why is he so out of step on the issue of Kyoto?
Perhaps its because he's still defining national interest on the narrow terms that the fossil fuel industry is serving up - ignoring the costs to tourism, insurance and public health.
Perhaps its because he's keen to stick with his colleague George W Bush as the only other developed leader holding out on Kyoto.
Whatever the reason, it will not be good enough to hope that greenhouse pollution won't get on the centre stage because the issue pervades everyday life, and people's concerns about greenhouse pollution are too deep.
People are also genuinely supportive of renewable and clean energy, not just on patching up our dirty coal-reliant energy system.
Yet despite this, the Howard Government is still considering proposals to scrap the mandatory renewables energy target.
The ALP has committed to ratify the Kyoto Protocol and we certainly welcome that. We think Labor's commitment to a 5% target for renewables by 2010 is useful but the figure should be doubled.
This issue will be an important identifier of policy difference in the run up to any election.
Third Test: Repair our Land and Rivers
Despite being the second driest continent on earth, we have built a prosperous nation, which now supports 20 million people.
The way we have done it has come at a cost.
The Prime Minister has acknowledged this fact and has put water, salinity and land clearing on the agenda. These issues are inseparable. And nothing illustrates our water problems better than the plight of the Murray.
The Murray Darling River system is an icon. It is a life force for significant ecosystems and agriculture.
Unfortunately it is a life force dying for a drink.
Last year Commonwealth and state governments made a historic decision. They built on previous commitments to stop taking more water from the river and committed to investigate how much to put back in.
An additional 1500 gigalitres of annual environmental flows, (a gigalitre equals five hundred Olympic swimming pools by the way) phased in over a 10-year period, gives the Murray a moderate chance of being restored to health.
The leader of the Opposition in his budget reply committed the ALP to this figure and committed some early dollars to this goal. ACF welcomes the ALP commitment to saving the Murray.
But for the mighty Murray the Government's budget was as dry as a dead river.
But this doesn't mean the Government is not interested - it is - and August has been foreshadowed as the time the Government will respond. But it must start talking about river health at least as much as it talks about water rights, and it must be prepared to invest the money to get the river flowing.
The poll shows that Australians are becoming impatient and forthright in their views about this issue.
When our researchers asked people to choose between retaining existing levels of irrigation for agriculture and increasing the environmental flows in the Murray Darling, 53% said the environmental flows were more important compared to 31% who said agriculture was and 16% who were undecided. (slide 4).
And for those sceptical about the research methodology, half of this sample was from regional Australia in electorates with proximity to the Murray Darling catchment.
I repeat the call ACF made with the National Farmers Federation three years ago.
We need a bipartisan ten-year commitment with the support of all Australians if we are to repair the rivers like the Murray Darling and assist farmers into a sustainable future.
Our research tells us that water and land repair are among the highest priorities for the use of taxpayers dollars.
It's about time governments started recognising that desire.
The $2.2 billion dollars dribbled back to taxpayers out of this years Budget surplus would have given the Murray the drink it needs and still allowed $700 million for other crucial environmental investment.
Alternatively, you could raise this sort of investment through a national land and water repair levy.
The phrase national land and water brings me to another national priority which our leaders have recognised. In this case the connection between land clearing and the poor state of our rivers.
Clearing native vegetation has cost our nation dearly.
Yet only last month, through a cooperative approach between the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments, a moratorium was put on fresh applications to clear native bush in Queensland.
A proposal to protect previously uncleared bushland by 2006 was then tabled by both governments.
I note in passing the ALP have been clear on this issue since their pre-2001 election commitment to end broadscale land clearing across Australia.
Although not perfect, the proposal is a significant and welcome one. It will prevent much of the loss of an estimated 100 million mammals, birds and reptiles killed annually by current landclearing in Queensland.
It will help to radically wind back the greenhouse pollution from the burning and rotting of cleared bushland that makes up 12% of Australia's greenhouse pollution.
This proposal is coming under intense fire from the Nationals and will be a real test of the Prime Minister's commitment.
But it will do far more, far quicker for the environment than the Telstra funded Natural Heritage Trust.
For every tree planted under the NHT by hard working volunteers, a hundred were being bulldozed. Years of state and federal government inaction on landclearing, made for this deplorable situation which now can be remedied.
Test Four: Protect Great Natural Areas
Australians have great affection for their great natural treasures.
On the Great Barrier Reef, we welcomed the Government's release of a proposal to fully protect some 30% of the Marine Park. However we agree with the marine scientists calling for at least 50% protection.
The Government's failure to ratify Kyoto or to rule out oil exploration off the park - measures the ALP backs - means the Reef remains in clear and present danger.
As yet, we haven't made most of the mistakes in Northern Australia that we have made in southern Australia. Areas like Cape York Peninsula have, till now, provided some sanctuary.
These too are now under threat and require a plan to prevent inappropriate developments, to support real indigenous partnerships and to improve natural protection.
In the Tasmanian forests both parties currently share the shame of supporting ongoing destruction of old growth and rain forests.
Of the old growth forests being clear felled more than 90% are being exported as woodchips.
Both John Howard and Simon Crean have the opportunity to protect these forests under the five-year review of the regional forest agreement just completed.
Who will take the advantage first will tell us much about their commitment.
Fifth Test: Support Sustainable Living
Australians enthusiastically embrace opportunities to change their lifestyles to protect the environment when they can.
We are the best recyclers on the planet but in other areas Australians are being frustrated.
Frustrated because national and state building codes force them to live in energy and water inefficient homes.
Frustrated by the slashing of the funding to help Australians put solar panels on their roof.
Frustrated by urban design and taxation arrangements which benefit private transport over public transport.
We need to end these frustrations with modern, adventurous policies for green cities
A 'National Agenda for a Sustainable Australia' is essential because our environmental record is a shocker. We can't move the country forward when the environment is going backwards.
And we need this agenda to prepare our economy for the 21st Century.
If the major parties sat the test today the ALP would be ahead with the Coalition starting to take some important steps but the results would show they both have a long way to go.
As the parties revisit their policies over the coming months they will be judged by their willingness to:
1. Show national leadership;
2. Cut greenhouse pollution
3. Repair land and rivers
4. Protect great natural areas and
5. Support sustainable living
And Australians from all walks of life: farmers and conservationists, Greens and Democrats and Independents, from the Cape to the Bight, will judge them closely as they tackle this task, as they aim to pass the environmental test.
The health of our country and the quality of life of future generations depends on nothing less.
(End of Peter Garrett's address.)
A National Agenda for a Sustainable Australia:
5 Tests For Policy Performance
1. Show National Leadership: Reverse Australia's environment damage and promote a clean and efficient economy by a Prime Minister and Premier's commitment to a National Sustainability Policy, implemented through an independent National Sustainability Council.
2. Cut Greenhouse Pollution: Ratify the Kyoto Protocol, establish national mandatory targets of 10% renewable energy by 2010 and 50% reduction in energy use by 2025, backed by a revenue neutral carbon tax or domestic greenhouse emissions trading.
3. Repair our Land and Rivers: Save the Murray River by increasing annual environmental flows by 1,500 gigalitres over the next decade, halt all large-scale land clearing and tackle salinity through financial incentives for the revegetation of cleared land.
4. Protect Our Great Natural Areas: Ensure that at least 50% of the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and 25% of Australia's marine environment is fully protected; protect all old growth and high conservation value forests, and protect the outstanding natural and cultural heritage of Northern Australia.
5. Support Sustainable Living: Introduce a 5 Star Green Cities Program with mandatory energy and water efficiency standards for commercial and domestic buildings, and help for families wanting to install solar power and rainwater tanks. Stop the proposed nuclear reactor in Sydney and the nuclear waste dump in South Australia. Support sustainable living in our Asia Pacific region.
Introduction
There are many benefits to living in Australia in 2003. In global terms, we have strong economic growth and a cohesive multicultural society. We have a good standard of living and we have relatively clean and safe cities.
The reality is, however, that we are at a crossroad: despite a strong national economy, we are going backwards on almost every single measure of the health of our environment, and this is now impacting on the health of Australians and our economy.
This risk is made worse by our 20th Century economy, which wastes large amounts of energy, materials and water- eroding our productivity through gross inefficiency.
National policies waste and damage the environment and penalise companies that are moving towards sustainability.
The Australian Conservation Foundation (ACF) believes that we can turn all of this around. We can protect, restore and sustain our beautiful natural environment, and build a clean and efficient economy for the 21st Century.
A National Agenda for a Sustainable Australia is a bold policy challenge for our national leaders. With an election at most eighteen months away, ACF is putting these policy tests and a more comprehensive policy list to all political parties. ACF will continue to assess the policies of the parties and make public their assessment of performance.
The State of Our Environment
The Federal Government's 2001 State of the Environment Report paints a bleak picture of Australia's environment. It suggests the natural environment has improved very little since 1993, and in many critical areas has worsened.
The core of the problem is the fact that Australia is a very high, and very inefficient, per capita user of resources. Every year, every Australian on average:
§ emits 27.6 tonnes of greenhouse pollution (the highest among developed nations);
§ uses 1540 kL of water (the highest of any continent, and this in the driest inhabited continent on earth); and
§ disposes of 620 kg of domestic waste (second only to the USA).
Australia's Environmental Health
According to the 2002 Australian Bureau of Statistics report Measuring Australia's Progress, Australia is going backwards on five of the six key indicators of progress on environmental issues: biodiversity, land clearance, land degradation, inland waters and greenhouse pollution. Air quality is the only area of improvement.
A Federal Government report released this year - the Australian Terrestrial Biodiversity Audit - talks starkly of a wave of extinction sweeping Australia.
· One third of the world's recent mammal extinctions are Australian;
· Nearly 3000 unique bush-land types throughout Australia are at risk, from the Kimberley in Western Australia to the Queensland rainforests;
· Northern Australia, previously thought to be a refuge for wildlife, is now increasingly under threat with more native species at risk than ever before.
This deplorable record of extinction is unparalleled anywhere else in the world. Our appalling loss of native species can be mostly attributed to tree clearing, salinity, the degraded state of Australia's rivers, poor land management, introduced pests and weeds and climate change. As a result, we're actually seeing plant and animal species disappear before our eyes.
At a time when Australia could, and should, be leading the world in adopting innovative, new approaches to economic and environmental policy, we are doing the opposite. We are, instead, leading the world in the loss of plant and animal life and greenhouse pollution. It is a tragic and unacceptable record.
1.0 Show National Leadership
We still have the opportunity to turn around Australia's deplorable environmental record by embracing the vision of a sustainable Australia. Achieving a healthy environment and a productive economy can, and must, go hand in hand. Indeed, our increasingly poor environmental performance will weaken the competitiveness of Australia's economy and the quality of our lives unless we act now.
Australians are deeply concerned about the future of our environment and consistently and increasingly support and expect strong leadership and action to protect the environment. Environmental credibility for modern Australian governments depends on a coherent sustainability reform agenda.
ACF strongly believes that action must be driven from the top, with leadership and coordination on sustainability coming from the Prime Minister and the Prime Minister's Department. A new agreement is required between the leaders of all Australian Governments to drive sustainability reform and address greenhouse pollution, land and water problems, and the loss of our plant and animal species.
Competition and regulation of anti-competitive business behaviour have been key drivers for economic and social reform in the late 20th century. Sustainability reform should be seen as a key driver of environmental, social, and economic reform at the start of the 21st century.
1.1 Achieve a Heads of Government commitment to a National Sustainability Policy.
1.2 Establish a National Sustainability Council reporting to COAG, with powers akin to the National Competition Council, with associated funding.
1.3 Appoint an independent Commonwealth Sustainability Commissioner to review and report on national environment and sustainability performance.
2.0 Cut Greenhouse Pollution
Australia is one of the least energy efficient OECD countries and the highest greenhouse polluter per person in the developed world.
More than 80% of Australia's electricity is sourced from coal fired power stations. Electricity generation is our biggest greenhouse pollution problem. Our reliance on coal for energy and export puts the Australian economy at risk in a world putting a price on greenhouse pollutants.
We also risk becoming less competitive than many of our trading partners with our economy using more energy than most other developed countries, and producing more waste and pollution to create wealth.
Unless we act now, Australia is also set to be one of the nations worst affected by greenhouse pollution. CSIRO studies indicate that the frequency of storms, cyclones, floods and droughts will substantially increase. As a result, insurance and health costs will rise. Rainfall is predicted to decrease by up to 20% over southern Australia, reducing agriculture and increasing bushfires. Alpine regions and the Great Barrier Reef will be threatened at a great economic and social cost to our nation.
Australians want action. Polling by Newspoll has shown that 81% of people want Australia to ratify the Kyoto Protocol, with or without the United States.
Our economy's productivity can be increased through the more efficient use of natural resources and reduced environmental impacts. The best and fairest way to drive emissions reduction is to put a cost on pollution through a revenue-neutral carbon tax. Another mechanism that can be used is a greenhouse emissions trading system, although a carbon tax is administratively simpler. A carbon tax will ensure that those responsible for causing greenhouse pollution pay for the environmental damage that it causes. Numerous industrialised countries have now introduced carbon taxes or are about to do so, including Denmark, France, Norway, Sweden, UK, and Germany.
2.1 Ratify the Kyoto Protocol, provide international leadership for its implementation globally, and legislate Australia's greenhouse pollution target.
2.2 Establish national targets of 10% renewable energy by 2010 and 50% reduction in energy use by 2025.
2.3 Institute a revenue neutral carbon tax or domestic greenhouse pollution trading
2.4 Reform the national electricity market to include greenhouse pollution reduction targets.
3.0 Repair Our Land and Rivers
Farmers, scientists, environmentalists, and business leaders agree that rural landscapes in Australia face crisis. Increasing salinity, damage to rivers and wetlands, soil degradation, and loss of native plants, animals, and habitats threaten to undermine Australia's shared prosperity, our clean, green reputation and our natural heritage.
Australia-wide, we have over-allocated water resources to the point where over a quarter of our river systems - mainly in southern and eastern Australia - are exploited beyond sustainable extraction limits. Add other degrading trends - declining water quality, increasing sediment loads, declining riverside vegetation, disappearing wetlands, and rising salinity levels - and we have a crisis in river health. Nowhere is this more the case than in the Murray Darling Basin, where the need for increased environmental flows is now paramount and the mouth of the Murray has closed.
Over seventeen million hectares of land - an area more than twice the size of Tasmania - is at high risk of dryland salinity over the next 50 years. On current trends, Adelaide's drinking water from the Murray River will be too salty to drink two days out of five in 2020. CSIRO estimates that salinity and soil degradation now impose direct costs of $1.7 billion per year and two thirds of land managers report that they will suffer losses in property values of up to 25% over the next five years because of this.
Land clearing, the primary cause of dryland salinity, continues at over 500,000 hectares per year - the highest rate in the developed world. Land clearing is a direct cause of Australia's extinction crisis, and is responsible for 12% of Australia's greenhouse pollution.
In many ways all three of these policy areas are closely interlinked. Declining river health, land clearing and salinity all represent major threats to biodiversity and ecosystem health. Increased environmental flows for the rivers of the Murray Darling - a biodiversity imperative - will also reduce in-stream salinity and improve water quality.
Salinity in turn threatens water supplies, water quality, native vegetation, roads, pipes and buildings. If we are going to arrest and, possibly, reverse current trends in salinity then we will need more native vegetation, not less.
ACF and the National Farmers Federation have previously outlined the range of actions needed to repair the country, and identified the need for dramatically increased public funding and private investment. In 2001, the ACF-Business Leaders Roundtable partnership showed how Federal Government leadership can mobilise nearly $13 billion in private sector investment into sustainable land use over the next decade to help repair land and water.
We can repair our precious lands and rivers if we make a concerted national effort now.
3.1 Save the Murray River by increasing annual environmental flows by 1,500 gigalitres over the next decade, with substantial funding available to promote efficiency, innovation and to support adjustment.
3.2 Protect high conservation value river systems through such measures as the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council's proposed 'heritage river' designations.
3.3 Halt all large-scale clearing of remnant native vegetation, protect important areas of regrowth native vegetation and tackle salinity through financial incentives for the revegetation of cleared land.
3.4 Leverage private sector investment into repair and sustainable land use ventures through taxation concessions.
3.5 Introduce a National Land & Water Repair Levy.
4.0 Protect Our Great Natural Areas
With landscapes sweeping from tropical rainforests to deserts, from the Great Barrier Reef to the unique southern waters, our ancient continent harbours a treasure chest of natural environments that are the envy of the world. We have more natural world heritage sites than any other country on earth.
Our natural environments protect and produce clean water and air, sustain livelihoods dependent on fisheries and other natural resources, and provide the basis for a strong part of the Australian economy - nature-based tourism and recreation.
At the same time we have the highest rates of mammal extinction on earth, half of our woodland bird species are threatened, and our relatively small remaining areas of old growth forests are still being logged. Over half of our commercial fisheries are in decline.
Northern Australia
Northern Australia, that great sweep of country from the Kimberley in the West to Cape York in the East remains one of the world's last remaining relatively intact tropical savannah landscapes - a natural wonder of the world.
A new vision for Northern Australia needs to be embraced: one that recognises its international significance, its importance to the aspirations of many Indigenous Australians, and the opportunity to provide a new model of sustainable development which links social, economic, and environment outcomes.
4.1 Protect the outstanding natural and cultural heritage of Northern Australia.
4.2 Fund acquisition and management of culturally appropriate protected areas on Cape
York Peninsula
4.3 Support sustainable development compatible with natural and cultural values in
Northern Australia.
4.4 Prevent broadscale landclearing and new commercial logging across Northern Australia
Forests
Australia's forests are recognised worldwide for their grandeur and rich array of life forms. Their diverse beauty ranges from the ancient forests of Tasmania, to the rainforests of Queensland, to the giants of south-west Western Australia.
In Tasmania the destruction of our forests is especially out of control. Old growth forests are being clearfelled with more than 90% being exported as woodchips. It is the only state still logging rainforests with plans to log the magnificent Tarkine in 2004.
Tasmania is also now the only state still subscribing to the bizarre view that to burn ancient forests for renewable energy is a good idea.
4.5 All old growth and high conservation value forests across Australia should be
immediately protected
Oceans and Marine
Australia is the biggest island on the planet, has the biggest oceans, stretching from the tropics to Antarctica, from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific, from Macquarie Island to Heard. Australia is more water than land.
Australia's oceans are rich in biodiversity, rich in cultural importance and rich in economic value through fisheries, petroleum, tourism and shipping - worth $50b a year.
4.6 Enact an Oceans Act to create a National Oceans Authority to ensure coordination and sustainability of ocean uses through enforceable regional marine plans and targets.
4.7 Ensure 20-50% of the marine environment per bioregion is highly protected by 2010.
4.8 Protect the Great Barrier Reef from all mineral, oil, and gas exploration in the Australian jurisdiction seaward of the GBR Region, ensure at least 50% of the Marine Park is highly protected, and dramatically reduce land-based pollutants and silt flowing into the Park.
4.9 Create a Marine Mammal Protection Act that addresses the full range of threats to marine mammals.
5.0 Support Sustainable Living
Eighty five per cent of Australians live in cities and major towns and have direct experience of the burgeoning environmental and social problems facing urban areas.
Polluted air and waterways, loss of urban bush and parklands, inadequate access to affordable public services such as housing and transport, social dislocation and urban sprawl are just some of the problems facing our cities. Despite or perhaps because of the extent of these problems, there is a sense that governments are failing to address them.
Transport and urban planning are in urgent need of attention at a national level. Car dependency has grown to the point where the use of cars in Australian cities for commuter and other private travel is second only to their use in American cities.
The nuclear fuel cycle involves the production of the most dangerous weapons and wastes known to humans. Australia's involvement with the nuclear industry includes uranium mining and export, existing and planned nuclear reactors in Sydney and a proposed national radioactive waste repository and store.
It is time we invested in a 5 Star Green Cities Program, with mandatory energy and water efficiency standards for commercial and domestic buildings. It is time we provided incentives for people to use public transport and help for families wanting to install solar power and rainwater tanks.
5.1 Support a 5 Star Green Cities Program, with mandatory energy and water efficiency standards for commercial and domestic buildings.
5.2 Provide public transport users with equivalent fringe benefits tax advantages as for car use and parking.
5.3 Launch a home and commercial 'building green' grants program to stimulate the building sector to reduce greenhouse pollution and water waste, including helping families to install solar power and rainwater tanks.
5.4 Stop the proposed nuclear reactor in Sydney and the nuclear waste dump in South Australia, and hold a national inquiry into radioactive waste management.
Australia's Foreign Policy
Environmental security is a precondition for regional security. Many governments now regard environmental security as an integral component of their national security strategies. Supporting sustainable living in our region is as important as it is at home.
In February 2003, British Prime Minister Tony Blair declared environmental degradation and climate change as devastating in their potential impact as terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
Poor management of natural resources is closely linked with corruption, which in turn undermines democracy and governance in the Pacific. It has led to civil unrest in the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea.
Australia has a responsibility as one of the largest powers, and one of the leading donors, in the South Pacific region, to address environmental degradation and promote sustainable development in the region. It is also in our national interest to do so.
5.5 Redefine the concept of national interest and national security to include global and regional environmental protection.
5.6 Recognise global environmental threats as important threats to Australia's national security and make the Environment Minister a member of the National Security Committee of Cabinet.
5.7 Ensure that Australian foreign policy and aid programs are substantially increased and promote a leadership role in environment protection and innovation.
While trade liberalisation could improve the environmental performance of some industries and some countries, current evidence from international and regional trade agreements is not encouraging.
Like the US, The Federal Government should introduce legislation that requires a review to be undertaken of the environmental effects of free trade agreements. This review should be undertaken through an environmental impact assessment statement under the provisions of the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act and be signed off by the Federal Environment Minister.