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A full repairing lease: Inquiry into ecologically sustainable land management

Industry Commission inquiry report

This report was released by the Commonwealth Government on 20 April 1999.

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    • Contents

    Preliminaries
    Cover, Copyright, Signing Page, Acknowledgement; Contents, Abbreviations, Glossary, Overview

    1   Introduction
    1.1   Agricultural land use
    1.2   Agriculture's contribution to the economy
    1.3   The inquiry

    2   Environmental Impacts Associated with Agriculture
    2.1   Biodiversity
    2.2   Dryland salinity
    2.3   Soil acidification
    2.4   Acid sulfate soils
    2.5   Soil structure decline
    2.6   Soil erosion
    2.7   Weeds
    2.8   Pests
    2.9   Exploitation of surface water
    2.10   Quality of surface water
    2.11   Exploitation of groundwater
    2.12   Quality of groundwater
    2.13   Impacts of irrigation
    2.14 Urban expansion

    3   Ecologically Sustainable Development
    3.1   National Strategy for Ecologically Sustainable Development
    3.2   Issues in implementing ESD
    3.3   Conclusions

    4   The Role of Government
    4.1   Property rights
    4.2   Externalities
    4.3   Conservation values and public goods
    4.4   Information

    5   Current Policy Responses
    5.1   Role of the Commonwealth
    5.2   Role of State and Territory governments
    5.3   Summary

    6   The Case for Change
    6.1   Poor policy responses
    6.2   Implementation problems
    6.3   Institutional weaknesses
    6.4   Scope for reform

    7   Proposals for Change
    7.1   Regulatory reform
    7.2   Markets and related measures
    7.3   Private conservation and environmental altruism
    7.4   Environmental knowledge and know-how
    7.5   Institution building
    7.6   Conclusion

    8   A New Approach to Regulation
    8.1   An environmental duty of care
    8.2   Elaboration of the duty of care

    9   Implementing the New Approach
    9.1   A unifying statute
    9.2   Voluntary standards
    9.3   Mandated standards
    9.4   Review of existing regulation
    9.5   Enforcement

    10   Information and Research
    10.1   Information on the state of the environment
    10.2   Gaps in ESLM research
    10.3   Extension
    10.4   Education and training

    11   Forests and Native Vegetation
    11.1   Separate tenure for land and trees
    11.2   Double taxation of forestry profits
    11.3   Harvesting rights
    11.4   Activities of forestry agencies
    11.5   Export controls on plantation-sourced wood
    11.6   Carbon sequestration

    12   Surface Water
    12.1   Reform of exploitation of surface waters
    12.2   Cost recovery and pricing
    12.3   Tradeable water entitlements
    12.4   Water for the environment
    12.5   Trade issues

    13   Groundwater
    13.1   State of groundwater use
    13.2   Consequences of use
    13.3   Current policies and programs
    13.4   Proposals for change

    14   Water Quality
    14.1   Existing tradeable permits
    14.2   Scope for extension of tradeable permits
    14.3   Commission's view

    15   Native Flora and Fauna
    15.1   Current approach to utilisation of wildlife
    15.2   Issues in utilisation of wildlife
    15.3   Commission's assessment

    16   Encouraging Conservation and Remediation
    16.1   National parks and state owned reserves
    16.2   Environmental altruism
    16.3   Use of regulatory measures
    16.4   Conservation on private land
    16.5   Income tax concessions
    16.6   Conclusion

    17   Natural Heritage Trust
    17.1   The Natural Heritage Trust
    17.2   Effectiveness of NHT Programs
    17.3   Conclusions

    18   Diversification in the Rangelands
    18.1   Degradation in the rangelands
    18.2   Alternative land use options
    18.3   Impediments to diversification
    18.4   Conclusion

    19   Strengthening Institutions
    19.1   Existing arrangements
    19.2   Strengthening the institutions
    19.3   Conclusion

    20   Urban Encroachment
    20.1   Participants' concerns
    20.2   Key issues

    Appendices

    A   Terms of reference

    B   Public consultation

    C   COAG water reforms - rural issues

    D   Natural Heritage Trust

    E   Income tax issues

    F   Conservation covenants, easements and agreements

    References

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