Pursuing business from California’s drought

Senator Simon Birmingham, Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, will be leading a delegation of Australian Water Businesses to California for the California-Australia Drought Dialogue, to support Australian business and export development opportunities.  Senator Birmingham will be a key speaker at a high level drought and water management roundtable being organised by the Governor Brown of…

Review of Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme announced

The Australian Government today announced an independent review of the Water Efficiency Labelling and Standards (WELS) scheme and its Water Efficiency and Labelling Standards (WELS) Act (2005) and other associated legislation. Due to report in June 2015, the review will pay particular attention to identifying opportunities to simplify red tape and regulatory requirements placed on…

Basin Plan on track to be delivered in full and on time

Today marks the two-year anniversary of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan. “There has been strong progress on the plan in its first two years of implementation,” said Senator Simon Birmingham, Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment.   “These two years have seen an impressive level of commitment and coordination between the Commonwealth and the basin state governments to…

MetEye offers a forecast service for all Australians

The Bureau of Meteorology has today completed the national rollout of its graphical forecast viewer ‘MetEye’, delivering all Australians with access to localised seven day forecasts, satellite or radar imagery and near real-time weather data such as temperature, rainfall, cloud cover, humidity and wind speed. “With the addition of forecast information for the Northern Territory…

Bush Blitz – discovery and beyond

Australia’s world-leading $22 million Bush Blitz species discovery programme will invest $1.2 million to better link discoveries with conservation outcomes. Parliamentary Secretary Simon Birmingham will announce the funding tonight at the IUCN World Parks Congress in Sydney. “By investing in the next phase of knowledge through Bush Blitz we are not only discovering new species…

Long-term environmental water monitoring programme for the MDB

A new five year monitoring plan for the Murray-Darling Basin announced today by the Commonwealth Government will provide unprecedented knowledge into the effectiveness of environmental watering. “Localised teams of experts from Australia’s leading regional universities and research institutions will undertake projects in key areas of Commonwealth environmental water delivery,” said Senator Simon Birmingham, Parliamentary Secretary…