Page 2571 - Week 07 - Thursday, 1 August 2019

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He never hid himself from us.

He let us see all of his complexity—all of it—and that’s what Australian’s loved about him.

Our 23rd Prime Minister was a proud and faithful son of the Labor movement, and he became one of the proud fathers of our modern Australia.

That is an excerpt from Scott Morrison’s speech. It was sincere and gracious, and the respect shown in it by a member of an opposing political party speaks volumes. Bob Hawke was a prime minister for all Australians. May he rest in peace.

Question resolved in the affirmative, members standing in their places.

Landcare—30th anniversary of establishment

Ministerial statement

MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Advanced Technology and Space Industries) (10.21): I rise to speak on a significant anniversary that we have just passed that is worth noting. On 20 July 1989 the Prime Minister, the Hon Bob Hawke MP, announced 1990 a Year of Landcare and the 1990s a Decade of Landcare. In his speech, the Prime Minister asked the community to “join us in these efforts for it is only by working together that we will restore and improve our environment”.

Through the ministerial councils and standing committees, state and territory governments contributed significantly to the Australian government’s overall policy and program design for the Decade of Landcare. The approach has been so successful that the decade has extended to 30 years, and it shows no sign of stopping. It has also been adopted internationally. Landcare is a grassroots movement of individuals and groups that protect, restore and sustainably manage Australia’s natural environment.

It is a national network of thousands of locally-based community groups that care for natural resources. Over time, the movement has grown from locally-based community groups to encompass a broader focus on sustainable management of all of Australia’s natural resource assets. Landcare now encompasses individuals and groups across the whole landscape, from coastal to urban and remote areas of Australia, with more than 6,000 community Landcare groups and many thousands of volunteers.

Landcare recognises the direct relationships between agriculture, the environment and community stewardship. It was unique in combining agricultural activities, biodiversity conservation and Aboriginal cultural heritage. The Landcare movement has developed the stewardship role of community and rural land managers and a recognition of the interconnected nature of the land and the environment. Landcare activities have raised the environmental awareness of rural land managers, leading to changes in practice to be more sustainable and sympathetic to the biodiversity values of rural lands.


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