Cassowaries and chaplains: how to avoid Canberra's conservation overreach

Abstract

[Extract] What do school chaplains and cassowaries have in common? Both highlight the degree to which federal governments struggle to devolve quality public decision-making to the right level. Our schools and our wildlife both need good governance. But just as the chaplaincy program was slapped down by the High Court as an example of federal government overreach, the Commonwealth also needs to tread carefully to foster better regional and local conservation efforts. Two new federal reforms will give us a chance to debate these issues: the negotiations of agreements with the states on environmental approvals, and the reform of Australia's major Natural Resource Management (NRM) funding programs. Both also present an opportunity to massage our somewhat dysfunctional system of conservation management.