Greens: 'Caring for our country' simply isn't

There are strong concerns for the future of Natural Resource Management (NRM) in Australia after the Government were unable to give a coherent account of funding priority guidelines in response to Greens questions in Senate Estimates today.

"The Government is scrabbling to come up with a program that comprehensively addresses the serious environmental and natural resource management problems facing Australia," said Senator Rachel Siewert today.

"The ALP made a series of ad-hoc election promises without articulating a vision for comprehensive framework or addressing the future of the range of ongoing community NRM programs."

"This means that environmental and natural resource management in Australia is now hamstrung - because funding is already committed to the badly thought-out Caring for our Country program, while there is no framework for how the remaining funds will be allocated to existing programs and regional NRM plans."
"The ALP simply doesn't understand natural resource management," she said.

"While the program claims to bring a range of existing programs into a one-stop-shop, what is missing is the planning framework and longer term investment strategies to ensure projects are integrated and targeted to deliver," said Senator Siewert.

"Far from reducing the number of scattered and isolated projects this approach will magnify the problems outlined by the National Audit Office. The momentum of the last decades of natural resource management will be lost."

"The future of regional NRM bodies is unclear. These organisations are already losing staff and we are seeing a shift to short-term projects while the government decides its future outcomes," she said.

"Other groups such as The Threatened Species Network and Marine Coastal and Community Network still don't know if they will be funded."

"I am particularly worried about the future of salinity funding, as it was admitted in estimates that it was no longer a priority for the Government. This could have serious implications, particularly for Western Australia," said Senator Siewert.

"The Greens are deeply concerned that NRM will be short changed and effective programs lost in the wake of bad governmental management," she concluded.

For More Information:

Chris Twomey
Email: chris.twomey@aph.gov.au
Phone: 0407 725 025