The NSW government has commenced a shark-monitoring program to reduce the risk of shark attacks on the NSW north coast. The $250,000 program involves on-water surveillance by the Department of Primary Industries and CSIRO together with a public education campaign.
The final report of the Productivity Commission report into natural disaster funding has been released. The report, which was sent to the Federal Government in December last year, was publicly released on 1 May 2015.
The recommendations represent both good and bad news for the local government sector – although most of it appears to be negative.
Delegates at the Australian Coastal Councils Conference at Cape Schanck adopted a Communiqué calling on the Australian Government “to retain the National Census in its existing form to ensure Australia’s councils have access to detailed demographic data which is essential for the future planning and resourcing of their communities.” The Communiqué was issued in response to a proposal to scrap the Census in its existing form and replace it with a smaller sample survey.