Page 2170 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 2 August 2022
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In February 2021 the ACT government committed $1.5 million to begin planning for a broader program of work in stage 2 of the program. This was further supported with a $5 million investment in October 2021 for ongoing staffing and construction, and a further $14 million in March 2022 for additional preservation and restoration work across our city. New assets are being planned for construction to target known areas of stormwater pollution in the catchments of Village Creek, Fadden Pond, Tuggeranong Creek, Kippax Creek and Emu Creek.
The report provides an important reflection on water governance arrangements that align with the government’s perspectives on how we can improve them, and highlights the importance of the government’s recent commitment to establish the office for water. The new office will help deliver holistic, coordinated and community-focused approaches to water issues. My colleague, Minister Rattenbury, recently announced $4.2 million funding to establish the office of water as part of this budget.
The Commissioner’s report also highlights that ensuring that our waterways and lakes are clean and healthy is integral to delivering a healthy environment for all Canberrans and underscores the need to do more to protect them from human sources of pollution.
This government agrees, and Minister Cheyne and I are working in partnership to deliver two important initiatives. The first is the work to enshrine a right to a healthy environment in the ACT Human Rights Act. This important reform recognises that our health and the health of our environment, including our lakes and waterways, are intertwined.
We also recognise the need to review and boost our environmental protections and settings. That is why Minister Cheyne and I have also funded in this budget a review of the Environmental Protection Authority, to ensure that we have a fit for purpose EPA that reflects that right to a healthy environment in its structure, reporting, enforcement and compliance activities.
While the review is underway, we have also boosted the number of on-the-ground EPA staff carrying out enforcement and compliance activity so that we can better prevent and respond to pollution incidents that impact our waterways and lakes. A total in this budget provides $700,000 to review and boost the on-the-ground capability of the EPA.
Water-sensitive urban design is another key policy that this government has invested in heavily to protect and improve the health of our waterways and lakes. The Commissioner has provided a rigorous evaluation of the effectiveness of our water-sensitive urban design policies and projects to date for improving water quality.
The findings do give cause for reflection and renewed focus. Recommendations have relevance across multiple agencies, covering responsibilities for policy refinement; strategic planning; urban design; construction and establishment; compliance and operation; and maintenance. The Territory Plan reforms currently underway will help to strengthen the effective implementation and compliance of the water-sensitive urban design policy.
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