Mr WARREN - 2005-08-17
During the last election campaign, you announced a Living Rivers program. Can you please advise the House about this exciting initiative and how it will contribute to the environment and environmental protection?
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Goyder for his question. Our rivers are the arteries of our unique Northern Territory environment. They enrich our lifestyle and are of immense social, economic and cultural importance. They hold a very special place in the lives of many Territorians.
Our government broke new ground with our approach to the management of the Daly River. I will be saying more about this tomorrow in my ministerial statement. The lessons learned from our efforts on the Daly can, obviously, be applied to other rivers. Living Rivers will allow us to do this. This is a program that will give us special status and, therefore, special legislation, planning and management of our icon rivers in particular. It is about proper environmental planning, community participation and prioritisation of our efforts so that our rivers can continue to breathe life into our unique landscape …
Mr Wood: What about Mitchell Creek at Palmerston?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: We know how much you care about the environment, member for Nelson.
Living Rivers is not about locking our rivers away. However, it will elevate the environmental importance of our river system …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms SCRYMGOUR: The issue of rivers and the Living Rivers program is of equal importance to every other question that comes into this House, particularly on environmental issues.
Territorians do not want a repeat of the mistakes of the Murray River, and we have a wonderful opportunity to get the management right. We already have a number of existing programs and legislation that can be applied to our rivers. The Living Rivers program will not do away with these controls, but it does recognise that our current processes do not always work well in an integrated way to give the best results.
Central to our approach, Living Rivers will establish the maintenance of river health as a core goal in relevant laws and processes. By way of example, this may mean that we need to do more, comprehensively, to recognise the value of vegetation along rivers. Not every river will be managed as a living river. There will be a process of setting priorities in which the view of the community will be important. The significance of the Daly River has already become clear, and the Daly will, therefore, be the first river to be managed as part of the Living Rivers program - and there will be legislation.
The Living Rivers program is a new and integrated way of looking at planning and management of our key rivers. By prioritising the river system in the most need of better planning and management in an open and consultative way, Living Rivers will help us secure federal funding and support. It will also help us to better protect our icon rivers which are so important to our lifestyle, environment, economy and tourism.
ANSWER
Madam Speaker, I thank the member for Goyder for his question. Our rivers are the arteries of our unique Northern Territory environment. They enrich our lifestyle and are of immense social, economic and cultural importance. They hold a very special place in the lives of many Territorians.
Our government broke new ground with our approach to the management of the Daly River. I will be saying more about this tomorrow in my ministerial statement. The lessons learned from our efforts on the Daly can, obviously, be applied to other rivers. Living Rivers will allow us to do this. This is a program that will give us special status and, therefore, special legislation, planning and management of our icon rivers in particular. It is about proper environmental planning, community participation and prioritisation of our efforts so that our rivers can continue to breathe life into our unique landscape …
Mr Wood: What about Mitchell Creek at Palmerston?
Ms SCRYMGOUR: We know how much you care about the environment, member for Nelson.
Living Rivers is not about locking our rivers away. However, it will elevate the environmental importance of our river system …
Members interjecting.
Madam SPEAKER: Order!
Ms SCRYMGOUR: The issue of rivers and the Living Rivers program is of equal importance to every other question that comes into this House, particularly on environmental issues.
Territorians do not want a repeat of the mistakes of the Murray River, and we have a wonderful opportunity to get the management right. We already have a number of existing programs and legislation that can be applied to our rivers. The Living Rivers program will not do away with these controls, but it does recognise that our current processes do not always work well in an integrated way to give the best results.
Central to our approach, Living Rivers will establish the maintenance of river health as a core goal in relevant laws and processes. By way of example, this may mean that we need to do more, comprehensively, to recognise the value of vegetation along rivers. Not every river will be managed as a living river. There will be a process of setting priorities in which the view of the community will be important. The significance of the Daly River has already become clear, and the Daly will, therefore, be the first river to be managed as part of the Living Rivers program - and there will be legislation.
The Living Rivers program is a new and integrated way of looking at planning and management of our key rivers. By prioritising the river system in the most need of better planning and management in an open and consultative way, Living Rivers will help us secure federal funding and support. It will also help us to better protect our icon rivers which are so important to our lifestyle, environment, economy and tourism.
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016