Page 3853 - Week 13 - Thursday, 18 October 1990
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have said that this is not the first time that this sort of warming has taken place; but that is an argument for another place, I suggest.
While acknowledging that the ACT is perhaps more fortunate than other areas, the Alliance Government does not stand back from the need for improvement in many areas of environmental management. Our budget statement clearly demonstrates our high level of commitment to ongoing enhancement of environmental quality. This Government recognises that environmental management is an ongoing and long-term responsibility and that this is a fundamental basis of our environment strategy, our preparation of an environmental budget and, indeed, all our environment initiatives. It is a strategy that has been developed from one of the most comprehensive environment policies of any State or Federal government.
Our strategy and our budget initiatives not only seek to improve an already high standard of environmental quality but also set the standard for ACT environmental initiatives into the future. The strategy identifies many programs that the Government has and will set in place during its term of office. These programs will provide the framework for ongoing environmental management into the rest of the decade. I think this strategy is an advancement from an environmental policy. As I have said before, in the past the ACT has never had an opportunity to have an environment policy that relates specifically to the ACT. We have that opportunity. However, the Government clearly said that here is a good policy but it is important that we provide a strategy to implement that. If one goes through this policy - caring for the ACT, caring for our environment - the program of the Government is quite clear. I think that is one of the most important facets of this strategy that we are discussing today.
As an example, Mr Speaker, the Government has made the completion of management plans for the Murrumbidgee River corridor, the Jerrabomberra wetlands and the Canberra Nature Park a high priority. The first two areas have been declared and the Canberra Nature Park will be part of the Territory Plan. The new legislation will require management plans to be prepared for them. There has been very extensive public consultation about the Canberra Nature Park. I was fortunate to be present, albeit a little late, at a meeting when that report on public consultation was issued to the community.
The management plans are based on a long-term management philosophy and established objectives, strategies and guidelines to ensure that maximum protection of these important nature conservation resources is combined with appropriate community access and utilisation into the future. Clearly, those sorts of policy plans require a major input from the community. As society in Australia develops over a period, I think that the sort of training that children are getting in our schools in relation to the
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