Page 3053 - Week 09 - Thursday, 21 September 2006
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South Wales governments have developed and signed agreements addressing regional management and regional settlement.
The agreements for the ACT-New South Wales cross border region being tabled today include the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales regional management framework agreement 2006, a memorandum of understanding between the Australian Capital Territory government and the New South Wales government on the Australian Capital Territory-New South Wales cross border region settlement 2006, and a memorandum of understanding between the Australian Capital Territory, the state of New South Wales and the commonwealth of Australia on the Australian Capital Territory-New South Wales cross border water resources 2006 and related summary of legislative responsibilities—cross border water supply—between the ACT and New South Wales.
The regional management framework is a government-to-government agreement between the ACT and New South Wales governments. It commits both governments to collaboration and provides a process for cross border issues resolution. It will encourage consistent policy development and service delivery by the ACT and New South Wales governments. It outlines a strategic approach for cross border interaction and represents a handshake, rather than a contract or action plan. To achieve these objectives, the regional management framework commits both governments to a series of regular ACT and New South Wales government interactions, either at first ministers, senior officials or agency-to-agency contact.
The regional management framework includes strategic themes to give priority to areas of cross border interaction that are to be reviewed from time to time. Current strategic themes are water and catchment management, settlement patterns, infrastructure, economic development, service delivery and emergency and consequence management.
Under the regional management framework interactions, New South Wales and the ACT negotiated the more detailed agreements under the first two of these strategic themes—water and settlement. The memorandum of understanding between New South Wales and the ACT on cross border region settlement has been in effect since 17 March 2006. The memorandum of understanding on cross border water resources, also signed by the commonwealth, took effect on 17 August 2006.
The MOU on cross border water resources, finalised through an exchange of letters amending the wording in the body of the text, provides that the ACT will provide water to developments in the cross border region, subject to agreement with New South Wales that such developments meet the principles within the memorandum of understanding on cross border settlement.
Under the terms of the memorandum of understanding on cross border water resources, the three governments will work together to develop an agreed catchment management plan for the Googong catchment, ensuring security of water quality and quantity in Googong dam for the benefit of the region.
The process by which the two jurisdictions are to reach agreement on whether developments meet the settlement principles is through the finalisation of a further
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