Senator KERNOT (Leader of the Australian Democrats) —I give notice that, on the next day of sitting, I shall move:

That the Senate—

(a)   notes that:

   (i)   5 June 1996 is World Environment Day,

   (ii)   Australia's rivers have been seriously degraded by damming, diverting, draining, straightening and changing their water flows,

   (iii)   Australia's rivers have become salinised and silted and invaded by exotic weeds and fauna,

   (iv)   the food bowls of this country and much of its biodiversity depend on the integrity of its catchment systems,

   (v)   Australia's coasts have been polluted and eroded, built-up or destroyed, and need attention,

   (vi)   the many reports on the coast have not been followed by significant action to ameliorate these effects, and

   (vii)   the problems with rivers and coasts demonstrate that many environmental issues in this country are a subset of similar problems throughout the nation, and

   (viii)   the environment requires national leadership and national responses; and

(b)   calls on the Government to show a real commitment to the environment by protecting Australia's rivers and coasts from a national perspective.