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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 13 Hansard (2 December) . . Page.. 4303 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (Attorney-General and Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning): Madam Deputy Speaker, for the information of members and pursuant to section 6 of the Subordinate Laws Act 1989, I present Instrument No. 268 of 1997, being the approval of the Murrumbidgee River Corridor plan of management made under section 204 of the Land (Planning and Environment) Act 1991, including the plan of management. Under section 207 of that Act, the plan of management is a disallowable instrument for the purposes of the Subordinate Laws Act 1989. I seek leave to make a statement.

Leave granted.

MR HUMPHRIES: Before introducing this plan I would like to state that the Government has embarked on an accelerated program to finalise management plans for nature reserves and review the plan for Namadgi National Park. I am pleased to report that plans for the nature reserves for the ACT are now well advanced and a start has been made on the revision of the 1986 management plan for Namadgi. The Murrumbidgee River Corridor, that strip of land straddling one of the most important river systems in Australia, now has a plan which will guide its future management and assure the protection of its diverse values.

The corridor is perhaps best known as the most popular site for swimming during the summer months. However, less well known but just as important, are the ecological, scenic, cultural and other recreational resources that the corridor offers. Landscapes range from dense scrub at Woodstock Reserve through open productive native and pasture grassland country to the steep and rugged gorges at Red Rocks. The corridor possesses perhaps the most important piece of ACT pastoral history, Lanyon, while Lambrigg was the site of this country's most important wheat breeding trials. The corridor offers a host of natural habitats and a variety of recreational experiences. This diverse nature of the corridor is seen by some as being its most appealing feature - and all this along a dynamic river on the doorstep of a growing and vibrant city of 300,000 people. Regionally, the corridor is important too. As the largest inland city in Australia, Canberra has a major role to play in minimising the impact of land uses and ensuring that the quality of water is not diminished in its passage through the Territory.

The management plan that I present to you today considers these elements and provides a broad framework in which the values of the corridor can be maintained and, where necessary, enhanced. Above all, it seeks to protect and enhance the river system and its adjacent land for the benefit of all Canberrans, visitors and downstream users. Under the Land (Planning and Environment) Act, it is necessary to lay this plan before the Assembly for a period of five days. This requirement is one of many that the plan has been subject to during its development. Included in its development have been a review

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