$1.5b package to fight salinity
© 2000 Australian Broadcasting Corporation
October 11, 2000
The Federal Government has announced a $1.5 billion package to tackle the problem of salinity at a national level over seven years.
Prime Minister John Howard says the state and territory governments will be expected to contribute $700 million towards the package.
Mr Howard says the money will be used to protect and rehabilitate waterways, to improve the coverage of native vegetation and for engineering works to address salt intrusion.
The Federal Goverment has called on the states to sign up for a national action plan to fight salinity and rescue Australia's dying waterways. Sarah Clarke reports.
Federal Government releases $1.5 billion package to battle salinity. Mark Willacy reports.
Australian farmers need to change practices to combat salinity. John Stewart reports.
South Australia has a special interest in today's salinity package. Anne Barker reports.
Peter Beattie's vocal criticism of the Commonwealth's land and water policies. Kirsten Aiken reports.
"We can't do it alone either financially or systemically, we need the help and understanding of the states but they need to accept that this is a national issue," he said.
"It's not just a question of the Commonwealth writing a cheque and giving it to the states and saying you go away and fix it."
The Commonwealth estimates that if salinity is not tackled, Adelaide's water supply will fail World Health Organisation salinity standards on two days out of five, within 20 years.
Under the plan put forward by the Commonwealth, river systems will be rehabilitated and native vegetation coverage will be increased, an issue of particular relevance to Queensland which is still trying to finalise controls to stop the rapid rate of tree clearing within the state.
ACF disappointed
The Australian Conservation Foundation says it is extremely disappointed by the package.
But the ACF says the program falls well short of the money needed to deal with a problem it says costs the country $1 billion a year, based on the Government's own figures.
Campaign manager John Connor says around $3.7 billion is needed every year to adequately deal with Australia's salinity problem.
"Now that sounds a lot but let's just put that in perspective because it's a little over 2 per cent of the whole Commonwealth budget," he said.
"We're spending far more on defence and health.
"Now is the time to put in the appropriate investment to fix up our backyard otherwise we'll lose both farms and biodiversity."
Greens
Greens Senator Bob Brown has partly welcomed the package but says it is too focused dealing with existing environmental problems rather than preventing further degradation.
Senator Brown says the Government should have taken a stronger stand against land clearing, particularly in Queensland.
"The Government has only got half the formula and fish ladders is no replacement for stopping the chainsaws," he said.
Court
The Western Australian Premier, Richard Court, wants compensation for WA landowners who are prevented from clearing because of salinity.
Mr Court says he would like to see the package address two major issues, compensation and water quality.
The Queensland Premier, Peter Beattie, has tried to legislate against freehold land clearing but could not get any compensation from the Commonwealth.
Mr Court says land clearing is still allowed in Queensland, but states which prevent clearing should receive first priority for compensation.
"In this state, we have an issue where we are stopping people from clearing, but we do not have compensation measures in place," Mr Court said.
"If a package is being put together for Queensland land owners, we would want the same arrangements to apply for Western Australian properties."