Environment Budget Overview 2006-07
Environment and Heritage Portfolio
Australian Government Department of the Environment and Heritage, May 2006
Whole-of-Government environment expenditure
The Australian Government takes a whole-of-government approach to achieving environmental sustainability through implementing and managing effective legislation, policies and programmes — an approach that is backed by historic levels of environmental spending.
This approach engages all levels of government and all sectors of the community in creating a sustainable future for our country.
The Government’s principal environment expenditure occurs through the Department of the Environment and Heritage and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry. Other agencies with significant environment-related expenditure include: the Department of Transport and Regional Services; the Australian Customs Service; AusAID; the National Water Commission; and the CSIRO.
Chart 1.1: Whole-of-Government environment-related estimated expenditure
Cross-governmental environmental spending includes:
- on-ground environment and heritage protection and repair;
- improved institutional arrangements and incentives for management of land, marine and water resources;
- research and development;
- collation and provision of data;
- taxation concessions; and
- incentives for overseas development assistance.
The Australian Government’s environment and heritage agenda is comprehensive. It addresses challenges such as:
- salinity and sustainable use of water;
- safeguarding the biodiversity of both land and marine species;
- sustainable resource management, including energy use;
- climate change; and
- natural, indigenous and historic heritage.
Within Australia, efforts to achieve environmental sustainability target natural resource management, oceans, the atmosphere, biological diversity, deforestation and desertification. The Australian Government’s contribution to environment protection extends beyond the Australian continent to include the oceans, island territories, and Antarctica. The Government also works to protect the environment in our regions, particularly the Asia-Pacific.
Chart 1.2: Major Agency contributions to environment-related estimated expenditure 2006-07
Note: The extent to which spending can be identified and ascribed to environmental purposes varies across portfolios and programmes. As a result, some expenditure with environmental implications may not be recorded in this statement.
| Department/Agency | 2005-06 $m | 2006-07 $m | 2007-08 $m | 2008-09 $m | 2009-10 $m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| DEH (a) | 589.6 | 687.8 | 617.0 | 458.2 | 398.8 |
| DAFF (b) | 140.0 | 432.1 | 324.3 | 257.6 | 124.5 |
| Joint DAFF/DEH (c) | 467.9 | 435.3 | 398.2 | ||
| Subtotal DAFF/DEH | 1197.6 | 1555.2 | 1339.5 | 715.8 | 523.4 |
| DOTARS | 385.2 | 392.7 | 406.1 | 421.0 | 436.4 |
| AusAID | 305.0 | 316.0 | na | na | na |
| NWC (d) | 34.4 | 404.2 | 606.1 | 544.0 | 204.1 |
| Customs | 270.2 | 306.7 | 285.6 | 286.8 | 282.2 |
| CSIRO (e) | 283.6 | 330.0 | na | na | na |
| ATO | 80.0 | 82.0 | 90.0 | 94.0 | 97.0 |
| ARC | 71.1 | 68.1 | 47.4 | 26.4 | 14.0 |
| DEST | 61.8 | 50.6 | 45.3 | 33.9 | 30.3 |
| Defence | 58.5 | 49.6 | 6.2 | 7.3 | - |
| Other (Agencies not separately listed) (f) | 313.8 | 383.7 | 408.9 | 329.6 | 296.2 |
| Total | 3061.2 | 3938.9 | 3235.1 | 2458.9 | 1883.6 |
|
Note: Amounts in this document are generally rounded to one decimal point using the standard rounding conventions. Due to rounding, the aggregation of elements within a table may not match the actual ‘total’. (a) Total DEH figure includes both administered and departmental expenditure. The administered component does not include any NHT or NAP expenditure as these amounts are included in the joint DAFF/DEH amount and the Other (agencies not separately listed) amount in this table. (b) Total DAFF figure does not include NHT or NAP expenditure as this is included in the joint DAFF/DEH amount in this table. (c) The total joint DAFF/DEH amount is comprised of total NAP funding for both DEH and DAFF, and total joint NHT funding for DEH and DAFF excluding the DEH SHFT/GBRMPA intra-governmental component. (d) Total NWC figures include both administered and departmental components. (e) At the time of printing, the CSIRO environment expenditure figure for 2006–07 was indicative only and subject to possible future variation. (f) This figure includes all other agencies not separately listed in this table. This figure only includes approximately four per cent of BoM’s total expenditure as this is the amount estimated to be environment-related. |
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Environmental protection, sustainable agricultural production and natural resource management are complementary rather than conflicting goals, which is why the Australian Government’s $3 billion flagship natural resource management programmes — the Natural Heritage Trust and the National Action Plan for Salinity and Water Quality — are delivered jointly by the Department of the Environment and Heritage and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (see Table 1.2).
Major recent environment initiatives
The Australian Government will provide $500 million in 2005-06 to the Murray-Darling Basin Commission (the Commission). This funding will be used to undertake a range of new capital works and improvements to enhance natural resource management and environmental flows across the Murray-Darling Basin. It will provide the Commission with the capacity to implement all current initiatives in timeframes that protect the resources of the Basin.
The 2006–07 Budget provides additional resourcing of $388.9 million to combat illegal foreign fishing in Australia’s northern waters. This package will significantly enhance Australia’s fisheries and maritime surveillance, compliance and enforcement capabilities and more than double the apprehension of illegal foreign fishing vessels (IFFVs).
The $2 billion Australian Government Water Fund announced on 13 September 2004, comprises three programmes: Water Smart Australia; Raising National Water Standards; and the Australian Government’s Community Water Grants. The first two programmes are managed by the National Water Commission, while the Department of the Environment and Heritage and the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry jointly administer the third.
| Division/ Agency | Description | 2005-06 $m | 2006-07 $m | 2007-08 $m | 2008-09 $m | 2009-10 $m |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Murray-Darling Basin Commission | ||||||
| DAFF | Additional funding | - | 65.0 | 145.0 | 175.0 | 65.0 |
| Total | - | 65.0 | 145.0 | 175.0 | 65.0 | |
| Securing Borders Against Illegal Foreign Fishing Package (a) | ||||||
| Customs | Expanded Joint Offshore Protection Command, preventative actions in Indonesia, increased apprehensions of IFFVs, late night aerial surveillance, rapid response capability for IFFV landings and Customs vessel replacement | - | 62.5 | 54.0 | 39.7 | 41.2 |
| AFMA (a) | Expanded Joint Offshore Protection Command, increased vessel destructions and increased investigations and prosecutions | - | 16.1 | 20.7 | 21.4 | 24.4 |
| DIMA | Increased detention services | - | 13.4 | 13.5 | 11.3 | 11.4 |
| Defence | Surveying and charting | - | 5.0 | 6.2 | 7.3 | - |
| DPP | Increased IFFV apprehensions | - | 1.4 | 2.1 | 1.8 | 1.9 |
| DAFF (a) | Preventative actions in Indonesia and management of quarantine risks from IFFVs in Northern Australia | - | 3.6 | 4.2 | 4.2 | 3.8 |
| AGD | Increased IFFV apprehensions | - | 0.9 | 1.3 | 1.2 | 1.3 |
| GBRMPA | Rapid Response Vessel | - | 0.9 | 0.5 | 0.5 | - |
| AFP | Preventative actions in Indonesia | - | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0.4 |
| Other | - | 1.3 | 2.7 | 3.0 | 2.7 | |
| Total | - | 105.4 | 105.6 | 90.8 | 87.1 | |
| Australian Government Water Fund | ||||||
| NWC | Water Smart Australia | 23.5 | 344.2 | 515.7 | 490.1 | 167.6 |
| NWC | Raising National Standards | 1.2 | 49.5 | 79.8 | 43.5 | 26.0 |
| DEH/DAFF | Australian Government Water Fund - Community Water Grants | 51.9 | 72.9 | 65.1 | 3.8 | - |
| Total | 76.6 | 466.6 | 660.6 | 537.4 | 193.6 | |
|
Note: Figures in this table for the Murray-Darling Basin Commission measure and the illegal foreign fishers package are provided on a fiscal basis. The Murray-Darling Basin Commission measure will provide $500m in 2005–06, to be expensed over five years as project milestones are completed. Australian Government Water Fund figures, consistent with the approach generally taken in this document, are provided on a total resourcing basis. (a) The primary purpose of the Illegal Foreign Fishers package is to address illegal foreign fishing in Australia’s northern waters. The identified activities are included as they also deliver environmental benefits. It is not possible to separately identify the environmental component for these activities. |
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