Helping Coastal Communities Plan for Future Development
Penny Wong
posted Sunday, 8 August 2010
A landmark study will be conducted into how population increases and future development will affect Australia’s ability to adapt to climate change in the future.
A Gillard Labor Government will also undertake a national stocktake of key infrastructure to determine infrastructure at risk from floods, storms and other climate change events.
This is all part of our commitment to protect our environment, our natural resources and quality of life and to build a sustainable Australia.
Australia’s demographics are changing rapidly. An increasing number of people are choosing to live near the coast, which is vulnerable to climate change.
A Gillard Labor Government will provide the national leadership needed to help coastal communities to adapt and to plan their future growth and development.
Tony Abbott has demonstrated a complete lack of judgment on this issue, telling Australian communities that climate change is ‘crap’ and dismissing sea level rise as irrelevant.
“The fact is that sea levels have risen along the NSW coast by more than 20 centimetres over the last century. Has anyone noticed it? No they haven't.”
ABBOTT – ABC – 27 OCTOBER 2009
This issue is far too important to leave to the glib one liners and short-term political fixes offered up by the Coalition.
The reality is that we need to start doing the hard work now, planning for the future to make sure we have a sustainable and strong Australia.
The Minister for Climate Change, Energy Efficiency and Water, Senator Penny Wong, said many communities did not have the tools needed to make informed choices about future planning.
Senator Wong said the CSIRO would receive $500,000 to research how coastal development and population growth would impact on Australia’s exposure to climate change.
``Planners and developers need the right information to help protect coastal communities from the effects of climate change,’’ Senator Wong said.
``The study will undertake population modelling that will give us a better understanding of the implications of different coastal development patterns into the future – on a regional, state and national scale.
``Local governments are already facing infrastructure and service provision challenges in regions with very rapid growth, particularly outside capital cities.’’
The study will cover national population patterns but will also identify regions likely to experience the greatest pressures from climate change.
Senator Wong also announced a Gillard Labor Government would provide $1.5 million to support GeoScience Australia to expand its National Exposure Information System (NEXIS).
NEXIS will compile a stocktake of key national infrastructure, such as water and energy systems and communication and rail networks, and assess their vulnerability to climate change.
How communities recover after severe storms and floods can depend on how well their key infrastructure withstands these events.
The NEXIS database will specify the location of key infrastructure, its construction type and asset value, and will help guide where future infrastructure systems should be built.
Funding for both initiatives is already included in the Budget, through Federal Labor's Caring for Our Coasts initiative.
Tags: change, climate, Penny, population, sustainable, Wong