Sandy Macdonald (NSW, National Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

by leave—This statement is read on behalf of the Minister for the Environment and Heritage. The order arises from a motion moved by Senator Brown as agreed by the Senate on 21 June 2005. It relates to correspondence concerning deductible gift recipient status for environment groups. The minister wishes to inform the Senate that he considers this request to be an unwarranted diversion of resources away from the government’s key role of protecting the environment. The minister would like to inform the Senate that the routine process for assessing an application from an environment group for deductible gift recipient status requires input from the proponent and relevant ministers. Once a decision has been made, this is duly conveyed to the applicant in question.