Commonwealth Numbered Acts

NATURAL HERITAGE TRUST OF AUSTRALIA ACT 1997 No. 76, 1997 - LONG TITLE

An Act to establish the Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Reserve,
and for related purposes 

PREAMBLE
The Parliament of Australia recognises the need for urgent action to redress
the current decline, and to prevent further decline, in the quality of
Australia's natural environment.
There is a national crisis in land and water degradation and in the loss of
biodiversity.
There is a need to conserve Australia's environmental infrastructure, to
reverse the decline in Australia's natural environment and to improve the
management of Australia's natural resources.
There is a need for the Commonwealth to provide national leadership and work
in partnership with all levels of government and the whole community,
recognising, among other things, that many environmental issues and problems
are not limited by State and Territory borders.
There is a need to integrate the objectives of environmental protection,
sustainable agriculture and natural resources management consistent with the
principles of ecologically sustainable development.
It is essential that government leadership be demonstrated, and that the
Australian community be involved, in relation to these matters.
The Commonwealth Government should work cooperatively with State governments
to achieve effective outcomes in matters relating to environmental protection,
natural resources management and sustainable agriculture. Those cooperative
working relationships should involve entering into inter-governmental
agreements which reflect the support of the States for the purposes of the
Natural Heritage Trust of Australia Reserve and promote the development of
complementary policies and programs.
Australia's rural community should have a key role in the ecologically
sustainable management of Australia's natural resources.
Australia's natural environment is central to Australia's and Australians'
health and non-material well-being and to Australia's present and future
economic prosperity. Accordingly, present and future generations of
Australians will benefit from the ecologically sustainable management of the
natural environment.
A comprehensive, integrated response to these matters is necessary.
The above considerations are taken into account by the Parliament of Australia
in enacting the law that follows. The Parliament of Australia enacts: