Senator Brown asked the Minister representing the Minister for the Environment and Heritage, upon notice, on 8 October 2003:

(1) Has the Western Australian Government formally approached the Federal Government seeking the nomination of Ningaloo reef for World Heritage Listing; if so, when.

(2) Has the Commonwealth agreed in principle to the nomination; if so, when.

(3) (a) Has a Commonwealth/state assessment process been established; and (b) has a date for completion of the nomination been set.

(4) Given that nominations must be received by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation World Heritage Centre by 1 February each year for consideration of the nomination in that year, and considering the rule limiting each state party to one nomination per year, in which year is it expected that Australia would submit the Ningaloo nomination.

Senator Hill (Minister for Defence) —The Minister for the Environment and Heritage has provided the following answer to the honourable senator's question:

(1) Yes, on 9 July 2003.

(2) Yes, on 7 August 2003.

(3) (a) Commonwealth and State officials have been meeting to plan the nomination process and the first workshop on heritage values has been held. (b) Commonwealth and State officials agree that the earliest date a nomination could be finalised is the beginning of 2005.

(4) There are a number of factors that determine the timing of a completed submission to the World Heritage Centre including the complexity of the stakeholder consultation process associated in preparation of any nomination and the existence of any competing nominations. Notwithstanding these considerations, the earliest feasible target date is 1 February 2005.