Mr Kelvin Thomson asked the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, upon notice, on 2 June 2004:

(1) Further to the answer to question No. 3309 (Hansard, 11 May 2004, page 28246), will he provide a copy of the advice that was forwarded to the Ramsar Secretariat in which the Government detailed the threats posed to the ecological character of the Macquarie Marshes, Narran Lakes and Gwydir Wetlands of International Importance.

(2) Does he intend to place these three sites on the Convention's Montreux Record of sites where changes in ecological character have occurred, are occurring or are likely to occur; if not why not.

(3) In respect of the Gwydir Ramsar site, can he explain why the Commonwealth Government has not fulfilled the commitments it gave as a signatory to the Memoranda of Understanding signed on World Wetlands Day in 1999 in relation to the future management of this site, in particular, what actions has he taken to (a) fulfil the undertakings made by both the NSW and Commonwealth governments to remain committed to maintaining appropriate hydrological regimes in the Gingham and Lower Gwydir Watercourses, particularly the provision of adequate, ecologically appropriate environmental flows to the wetlands; (b) make operational the Management Group for the Ramsar site which has met only twice since 1999; and (c) activate the Dispute Resolution mechanism to address the concerns communicated to his Department over 12 months ago by Mr Howard Blackburn, one of the private landholders involved.

(4) Will he provide details of the activities that have been funded or are proposed for funding through the Border Rivers-Gwydir 2003-2004 Investment Strategy that will benefit the Gwydir Ramsar site and address the threats to its ecological character; if no funding decisions have been made, will he give a commitment that the Commonwealth will ensure that some of these funds will go to addressing the threats to the ecological character of this Ramsar site.

Dr Kemp (Minister for the Environment and Heritage) —The answer to the honourable member's question is as follows:

(1) Yes. This advice reports a change in the ecological character of the Gwydir Wetlands Ramsar site, under Article 3.2 of the Convention. A copy of the advice has been provided to the honourable member. Further copies are available from the House of Representatives Table Office.

Prior to this, Australia's National Report to the 8th Conference of the Contracting Parties to the Convention on Wetlands (submitted April 2002) had indicated that changes or potential changes in ecological character had been predicted or detected for the Narran Lakes Ramsar site.

(2) No. The Australian Government is pursuing a more cooperative and consultative approach that will achieve earlier actions and better outcomes.

(3) The Australian Government is working closely with the other parties to implement the Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) for the Gwydir Wetlands.

(a) I am concerned that the water sharing planning process recently undertaken by the NSW Government may not result in adequate and ecologically appropriate environmental flows for the Gwydir Wetlands. I have written to Minister Craig Knowles, NSW Minister for Natural Resources, about the adequacy of environmental flows for the Gwydir wetlands.

(b) The landholder signatories to the MoU have formed a Management Group to oversee the implementation and co-ordination of the MoU.

(c) Neither Mr Blackburn nor any other party has sought this course of action.

(4) Two projects have been approved through the Border Rivers/Gwydir 2003-04 Investment Strategy that will assist the sound management of wetlands in the region:

Riverine monitoring including groundwater, water quality and wetlands monitoring National Action Plan: $246,878

Targeted investment to manage wetlands and riverine ecosystems for water quality, salinity and conservation outcomes in the Border Rivers/Gwydir National Action Plan: $149,310

In addition, the Australian Government has recently approved $203,213 in State-wide Natural Heritage Trust funding for the Promotion of the Ramsar Convention and assessment of ecological character on private Ramsar sites in NSW - a pilot for application by other States and Territories.