Page 870 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 2 April 2008
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long-term health of the Murray-Darling Basin. That was expressed through an in-principle agreement through a memorandum of understanding for consultation with each state and territory. The memorandum establishes the independent Murray-Darling Basin Authority; arrangements that give the commonwealth minister power to approve a new basin-wide plan, including a new cap on the amount of water used in the basin; the continuation of the states and territories role in setting annual water allocations; decisions on natural resource management across the basin and a new role to provide input into the basin-wide plan; all basin governments to sign an intergovernmental agreement at the July COAG meeting giving effect to the new basin arrangements; and an in-principle commitment from the commonwealth to invest up to $1 billion in stage 2 of the food bowl project in Victoria.
Mr Speaker, the ACT has expressed continuing support for the broad policy objectives of the reforms of the Murray-Darling Basin, and COAG is working to ensure sustainable water supply by expanding the CSIRO’s assessment of sustainable yields.
In addition to water, there were a significant number of other outcomes from the meeting. In relation to climate change, COAG recognised and stressed the urgency to combine into one national scheme the different approaches on renewable energy targets in order to have complementary policies and measures that achieve emissions reductions at least cost and provide consistency for investors looking to support Australia’s renewable energy industry.
In relation to infrastructure, COAG agreed that the immediate priorities for infrastructure for Australia over the next 12 months were the completion of a national infrastructure audit. There were also significant commitments in relation to affordable housing, with a national priority that supports the initiatives discussed through the COAG working group. This includes the distribution of $150 million to deliver new homes for homeless people, with a guarantee that no state and territory will receive less than $1 million per annum; $30 million from the housing affordability fund for the rollout of electronic development applications; and a COAG commitment to providing support for infrastructure provision. The ACT welcomes the commonwealth’s commitment to an audit of vacant commonwealth land which can be released for housing. We are, of course, hopeful in the ACT that that will benefit us.
COAG also set practical goals in relation to Indigenous reform and agreed on more than 23 specific actions across its agenda aimed at closing the gap on Indigenous disadvantage by providing at least 48,000 dental services to Indigenous people over four years; asking the Indigenous reform working group to bring forward a reform proposal on Indigenous early childhood development; and requesting reform proposals no later than the COAG meeting in October on basic protective security from violence for Indigenous parents.
In relation to business regulation and competition, COAG also agreed to 27 areas of regulatory reform, including a landmark intergovernmental agreement to harmonise occupational health and safety laws. COAG also agreed to breakthroughs on 12 further regulatory reforms. In addition, the new COAG regulation reform agenda was settled covering nine areas: standard business reporting, food regulation, mine
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