Today a bold plan has been unveiled to completely eradicate feral cats from Christmas Island. The ambitious plan will be underpinned by an enduring cat-control partnership between the Australian and Western Australian governments, the local community, biodiversity experts and major organisations including the Shire of Christmas Island and Christmas Island Phosphates. “Feral cats are devastating…
DetailsNorthern Victoria’s iconic Gunbower Forest will receive its first delivery of environmental water this week using newly-constructed infrastructure and the milestone has been welcomed by Senator Simon Birmingham, Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment, and Victoria’s Minister for Water Peter Walsh. Senator Birmingham said The Australian Government was committed to innovative works that delivered win-win outcomes…
DetailsSenator Simon Birmingham, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment, and Victorian Minister for Water Peter Walsh have today officially launched the Hipwell Road environmental watering works in Victoria’s iconic Gunbower Forest. The new infrastructure, developed under The Living Murray initiative, is designed to deliver environmental water from the River Murray into the forest.…
DetailsPROJECT works on Ferries McDonald Road are now complete, greatly improving the strategic north/south link for freight through the Murraylands, east of Murray Bridge. Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development Warren Truss said the Australian Government had provided $3.65 million towards the road upgrade through the Roads to Recovery Programme. “The…
DetailsThe world’s first continent-scale nature discovery project, Bush Blitz, is being ramped up to broaden the search for Australia’s least known plant and animal species. Bush Blitz has been extended until 2017 thanks to $12 million in funding from the Australian Government and BHP Billiton Sustainable Communities, with each contributing $6 million. “To keep our…
DetailsGrants totalling more than $100 million will flow to almost 100 South Australian River Murray irrigation and industry projects. This includes projects such as $12.7 million to replant an existing production area with new crops and a new irrigation system, $5.2 million for a new onion and potato farm to supply a national supermarket chain,…
DetailsAustralians will benefit from enhanced forecasting services provided by the Bureau of Meteorology with the acquisition of a new supercomputer scheduled to begin operation in mid-2016. Environment Minister Greg Hunt and Parliamentary Secretary Senator Simon Birmingham visited the Bureau’s Victoria Regional Office today and said procurement of the new supercomputer will begin before the end…
DetailsWeather watchers using the Bureau of Meteorology’s Perth weather radar will now get more images, more often and have the option of looking at the Doppler wind observations. “West Australians will benefit from a significant improvement in service for both the quality and frequency of the radar data,” said Senator Simon Birmingham, Parliamentary Secretary for…
DetailsMurray Bridge’s water supply will be more secure thanks to an Australian Government-funded project that will save approximately 170 million litres of drinking water per year. “I congratulate the Rural City of Murray Bridge for starting construction on the project which will reduce the cities reliance on the River Murray for drinking quality water in…
DetailsThe Australian Government has today detailed how it will deliver on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on time and in full, with priority given to water saving infrastructure investments in a new Water Recovery Strategy released today. “Our government promised to cap the volume of buybacks at 1500 gigalitres and instead recover water for the environment…
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