Dick Adams (Lyons, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On behalf of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Agriculture, Resources, Fisheries and Forestry, I present the committee's report on the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry's annual report 2011-12, the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities' annual report 2011-12, Caring for our Country and Landcare, together with the minutes of proceedings and evidence received by the committee.

In accordance with standing order 39(f) the report was made a parliamentary paper.

by leave—In considering these annual reports, the committee was particularly interested in the Caring for our Country initiative, which is jointly administered by both departments. The operation of the community based natural resource management program Landcare was also considered by the committee.

Caring for our Country is a large and complex program designed to assist in the management of natural resources. The program receives substantial funding from the Australian government. Phase 1 of the program was established in 2008. At the conclusion of this first phase a review was undertaken in 2012. The results of stakeholder feedback, as part of the review, were considered when developing the second phase of the program. This second phase, supported by $2 billion of Commonwealth funding, is due to commence in July 2013.

In implementing phase 2, the Australian government has sought to improve the clarity of program administration and decision making by channelling the initiative into two separately administered streams: an agricultural sustainability stream and an environmental stream. The committee focused on the review of the program released in 2012. The review, while largely positive, found a number of areas that could be improved, including the monitoring, evaluation, reporting and improvement framework. It also found that additional consultation is needed in the setting of outcomes and targets. These should consider scientific and community experiences and account for the knowledge and expertise of regional natural resource management organisations.

Ongoing management of natural resources is a critical investment in Australia's future. The need to manage pests and weeds in natural environments also warrants priority attention. It is also vital that natural resource management projects be monitored to enable resources to be spent wisely. In this regard, we examined aspects of the National Reserve System—Australia's network of protected areas. The inquiry focussed on joint land acquisition arrangements for the scheme where the Commonwealth provides two-thirds of the purchase price and the land manager provides the remainder. Our report calls for clarity in circumstances where a land manager becomes unable to discharge their contractual obligations to conserve the designated land.

Community engagement in the decision-making process underpins natural resource management. Local communities and those with local knowledge play a vital role in the identification of weeds and pests and identify potential new conservation projects. The community should also play a role in how resources are allocated to identify those projects.

The report also encourages an improvement in mechanisms for sharing project outcomes. The provision of this shared knowledge should ensure that future natural resource management projects are better assessed and managed.

The committee made one recommendation, calling on both agencies to inform the committee once the new Monitoring, Evaluation, Reporting and Improvement Strategy relating to the Caring for our Country initiative has been published. We look forward to examining the new strategy and hope the agencies will also note the committee's comments through the rest of the report.

On a final note, we were pleased to see the departments embracing the use of new technology. In particular, the use of mobile devices to engage with communities to identify potential projects was commendable. Such initiatives should continue and be improved as technology continues to develop. I would like to thank the members of the committee for their work in relation to the inquiry—the member for Bass on my left; the member for Hume, the deputy chair—the committee staff for their assistance in preparing the report, and I also thank the departments for their cooperation. I commend the report to the House.