QUESTION No. 449

Senator Ludlam asked the Minister representing the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, upon notice, on 16 March 2011:

-With reference to Operation Talisman Sabre 2011:

(1) In regard to the Talisman Sabre exercises, what will be the actual cost to the department of the exercises, for example, clean-up operations, monitoring, herding dugongs out of the live fire area etc.

(2) In regard to the AECOM public environment report (PER) concerning the exercises, for which the public comment period closed on 10 December 2010:
(a) how are the unlikely scenarios for which the exercises are intended to prepare the Australian Defence Force (ADF), such as nuclear warfare, weighed up with the actual damage done to the marine and terrestrial environment;
(b) to what extent has the projected or potential impact on the area in which the exercises are to be conducted and, in particular, Queensland's Shoalwater Bay region, the Great Barrier Reef Marine Park and the Coral Sea, been assessed;
(c) who conducted the assessment in paragraph (b);
(d) what were the outcomes of the assessment in paragraph (b);
(e) what assessment has been carried out of the impact of the floods in Rockhampton and the cyclone around Cowley Beach;
(f) if no assessment has been carried out in relation to paragraph (e), why not;
(g) to what extent have the impacts of the floods and cyclone in Queensland altered the planning for the exercises; and
(h) based on the understanding that the Great Barrier Reef and other marine environments have been damaged by the recent extreme weather conditions and given the intense naval activity associated with the exercises, will the department consider postponing the exercises in order to give the region an opportunity to recover; if not, why not.

Senate Question No. 690

Senator Ludlam asked the Minister representing the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, in writing, on 15 June 2011:
(1) What contingency planning has been undertaken by the department to deal with the reduction in funding for heritage core tasks such as identifying heritage places and providing statutory protection advice.

(2) What full-time equivalent staff numbers are being considered in contingency planning by the department to deal with the reduction in funding for heritage.

(3) What number of National Heritage assessments is being considered for the 2011-12 financial year, given cuts in the department's human and economic
resources.

Senator Conroy: The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has provided the following answer to the honourable Senator's question:

(1) The department has undertaken an extensive planning and transition process in order to ensure the maintenance of its core heritage responsibilities.

Question No. 571

Senator Ludlam: To ask the Minister representing the Treasurer-With reference to the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS):
(1) What is the name of the unit within the department which advises the Treasurer on the National Rental Affordability Scheme (NRAS), and how many people is it comprised of.
(2) Does the department still consider the NRAS program to be undersubscribed.
(3) What industry consultation took place prior to the providing of advice to the Government that the target should be capped at 30 000.
(4) How does the department work with the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities on NRAS.
(5) Given that, in November 2008, the Government introduced a transitional safety net to cover charities participating in NRAS, targeting charitable organisations that participate during the establishment phase of NRAS (dwellings built during the 2008-09 and 2009-10 financial years), thereby expiring at the end of that establishment phase:
(a) what is the current situation for charitable organisations participating in NRAS; and
(b) did the transitional safety net expire as noted; if so, are the affected charitable organisations currently participating in NRAS in danger of losing their charitable status and loss of valuable tax concessions.

QUESTION No. 577

Senator Ludlam: To ask the Minister representing the Minister for Defence-

With reference to the use of depleted uranium (DU) in Afghanistan by coalition partners and the answer to a question taken on notice during the 2009-10 Supplementary Budget Estimates of the Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Legislation Committee on DU use in Afghanistan by our coalition partners, which states that ‘Coalition partners have not provided any information on their use of depleted uranium munitions': Has the Australian Government asked our coalition partners whether they have used DU in Afghanistan.