Policy Failure: Australian Freshwater Protected Area Networks

Abstract

The Australian (Commonwealth) Government, as well as Australia's eight state and territory governments, is committed (on paper) to the protection of representative examples of all major ecosystems including freshwater ecosystems within networks of protected areas. However, with the exceptions of the Australian Capital Territory, Victoria and Tasmania, no government has funded a systematic attempt to action the commitment to freshwater ecosystems – and programs in Victoria and Tasmania both appear to have made little recent progress. Several statutory provisions for the creation of aquatic protected areas remain, after many years, un-used in freshwaters. The pervasive failure of Australian governments to implement important policy tools (and other aspects of policy relating to the protection of freshwater ecosystems) raises questions about the real commitment of governments to policies which have no strong political constituencies. Failures in the context of both Commonwealth and state freshwater policy, particularly that relating to the strategic and systematic development of protected area networks, are examined. The Victorian situation, marked by advanced policy development as well as implementation ‘delays’ of over a decade, is selected for more detailed discussion. The advantages and disadvantages of different procedural approaches to the establishment of freshwater protected area networks are summarised, following a tabulation of relevant Australian statutes. Different explanations of government inaction are listed; however, lack of hard evidence leaves most explanations in the realm of speculation.