Federal Climate Change and Water Minister Penny Wong today outlined a $12.9 billion, decade-long water investment program, that includes new water initiatives.
Meanwhile, Canegrowers chief Ian Ballantyne says a meeting yesterday between the minister and peak farm groups showed the government is yet to decide whether to bring agriculture in under its proposed emissions trading scheme in the initial stages.
Environment ministers today failed to reach agreement on a national ban or levy for plastic bags, prompting South Australia to vow to go ahead with a state ban.
But they committed to an investigation into the merits of a national container deposit scheme and flagged that e-waste would be high on the agenda at its November meeting.
The federal environment department has released emissions data from almost 4,000 facilities across Australia. Emissions of benzene plunged 38%, but emissions of fine particles rose 18% and formaldeyde emissions were up 9%, the latest National Pollutant Inventory results shows.
