Ian Macdonald (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary Assisting the Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Senator Wong. I ask if the minister can assure the Senate that it is a fact that the government has, without any notice, listed on its website details of the $25 million for ‘contestable’ grants under the Caring for our Country initiative. Is it a fact that this $25 million is meant to compensate for the more than $120 million that was ripped off natural resource management bodies by the Labor Party’s axing of the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality? I also ask the minister: is it true that agencies like the CSIRO, state governments and local councils can now apply for these funds, which were previously solely set aside for local natural resource management groups?