Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

which is organised by a group whose name you would like, Senator Ray. You would probably like what they do, too. It is called the ‘collective’ of NRM committees in Queensland. I have always indicated to them that I thought their name was a little bit Bolshevik for me. But, leaving aside their name, this is a collection of all of the natural resource management groups in Queensland who, with local input and their own expertise, spend the federal government’s Natural Heritage Trust money in Queensland. There are similar NRM bodies right around Australia. As a Queensland senator I am, of course, particularly interested in the Queensland groups. They come together once a year in this collective to share ideas and experiences.

These groups, in Queensland at least, are community driven. Increasingly they have very professional management, which they have organised themselves. With local input so they understand local conditions, but using federal government money, they have been able to make a real difference to the natural resource management of the areas that they look after. In my area there is the Burdekin Dry Tropics NRM Board. Bob Fraser is a great CEO of that organisation. A little further north there is the Northern Gulf NRM, looking after the northern part of the Gulf of Carpentaria and right up into Cape York. There is one for the southern gulf, dealing with the area from Mount Isa up to Karumba. I am delighted to say the Torres Strait Regional Authority has recently been appointed as an NRM body to look after the Torres Strait.

There are lots of groups all around Australia. They come together once a year, not always in Canberra, led by Mr Gordon French, the chairman of the Brisbane NRM body, who also looks after the statewide collective. They do marvellous work. They are not overly recognised—I suspect few in the avenues of power would even know of them. But they do a great job for Australia and our environment, and they continue to help the government with proper natural resource management in our country.