BUILDING OUR ECONOMY. 4 May 2019 Lord Mayor Sally Capp City of Melbourne lord mavor@ melbou rne.vic.gov.a u Dear Lord Mayor, Thank you for the opportunity to provide the views of the Morrison Government on important issues facing your members. A response to your questions is attached. This election will have real consequences for Australia's economy and our future. This year, for the first time in more than a decade, the Government will deliver a Budget surplus. Our plan for a stronger economy will: L. Create 1.25 million more jobs over the next five years' 2. Maintain budget surpluses and pay down debt. 3. Deliver tax relief to encourage and reward hard working Australians. 4. Guarantee increased investments for schools, hospitals and roads. 5. Keep Australians safe and our borders secure. The alternative at this election is Mr Shorten. Labor's risky agenda includes billion of dollars of higher taxes - on retirees, housing, incomes, investments, family businesses, electricity and more. Thank you for communicating our response to your members. You incerely, Andrew Hirst Federal Director MORRISON GOVERNMENT RESPONSE TO THE CITY OF MELBOURNE Climate and environment L. Do you understand and accept the scientific consensus on climate change? lf so what are your policies to ensure climate mitigation pathways compatible with limiting global temperature rises to no more than 1.5C, including in relation to investment in renewables and industrial carbon emissions regulation? Climate change is a global problem that requires a global solution. The Morrison Government is committed to Australia playing its part in that global solution to reduce emissions. Under the Morrison Government, Australia's emissions are currently at their lowest level on a per capita and GDP basis in 28 years. Australia contributes to just over I per cent of global emissions. The Morrison Government is committed to Australia continuingto play its part in reducing emissions The Morrison Government's 2030 target to reduce emissions by 26 to 28 per cent below 2005 levels is responsible and achievable. This target will see a reduction in emissions per person halve by 2030. This is one of the strongest efforts among G20 countries. The Morrison Government's Climate Solutions Package is a comprehensive, fully costed, 53.5 billion plan, over the next decade to deliver on Australia's 2030 emissions reduction targets. Our plan will realise real reductions in emissions and see Australia meet and beat our international climate commitments, unlike Labor, which has released an uncosted, unachievable and nonsensical "plan" with no detail about how they plan to achieve emissions reduction. 2. Will you legislate a regulatory framework for product stewardship, holding retailers and manufacturers accountable for managing their waste, and also provide national coordination and support for allwaste reduction and management including through new large scale recycling infrastructure? A re-elected Morrison Government will implement a comprehensive St6Z million Australian Recycling lnvestment plan to increase Australia's recycling rates, tackle plastic waste and litter, accelerate work on a new battery recycling scheme and continue action to halve food waste by 2030. The Morrison government will support a range of measures strengthen Australia's recycling industry, including: . A new S100 million Australian Recycling lnvestment Fund through the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to support the manufacturing of lower emissions and energy- efficient recycled content products, such as recycled content plastics and paper/pulp. 1 S20 million for a new Product Stewardship lnvestment Fund to accelerate work on new recycling schemes, including for batteries, electrical and electronic products, photovoltaic systems, and plastic oil containers. a Working with Planet Ark and the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation with up to 51.6 million to establish a Circular Economy Hub to drive innovation and establish an online marketplace to match buyers and sellers of waste. a Supporting the Australian Packaging Covenant Organisation to deliver increased recycling rates for packaging waste, with up to S1.1 million for consumer education. a Continue working to halve food waste by 2030 under our National Food Waste Strategy, with an additional 5500,000 to support the delivery of a Fight Food Waste campaign by OzHarvest. Allocate SZ0 m¡ll¡on through a special round of the Cooperative Research Centres Projects (CRC-P) to find new and innovative solutions to plastic recycling and waste, including new ways of incorporating recycled plastics in manufacturing and construction. By keeping our economy strong, the Morrison Government can cont¡nue investing in our environment. Australia's environment cannot be supported under Labor's economy- wrecking plans. lf you can't manage the economy and the Budget, then you can't invest in the environment. You can read more about Our Plan for a Cleaner Environment here: https ://www. I i b e ra l. o rs. a u/ou r-p I a n-cl ea n er-e nvi ron m ent 3. Will you instigate a national funding scheme dedicated to halt the loss of biodiversity and threatened species in urban areas through funding'nature in cities' programs? The Coalition established Australia's first Threatened Species Commissioner and first Threatened Species Strategy - with ambitious targets including to improve the trajectories for 2O priority mammals and birds and 30 plants. We have provided substantial funding to protect threatened species including through an investment of over 51 billion in the National Landcare Program. The Morrison Government has committed S1OO mill¡on in the 2OL9-20 Budget to a new Environment Restoration Fund to support major environmental projects that deliver lasting conservation benefits. This is the type of investment that is only made possible through a strong economy and responsible budget management. The fund will be a vehicle for national leadership on emerging and long-term environmental issues, building on our Sf b¡ll¡on National Landcare Program. Funding will be provided for a broad range of environmental restoration and protection projects, built around three key priorities: . Cleaning up and protecting Australia's coasts, oceans and waterways. Protecting threatened and migratory species and their habitats. lncreasing recycling and reducing waste. 2 Transport 4. Do you accept that the Victorian share of Commonwealth infrastructure funding has been far too low for too long, and will you fast-track majority share funding for vital infrastructure projects Airport Rail, Metro Rail 2 and Fishermans Bend Light Rail? What is your proposed expenditure by year for each of these three projects? The Coalition has made over S27 billion in commitments to Victorian transport infrastructure since 20L3.lnvestments like these can only be made because our plan for a stronger economy is working. The Morrison Government has a 10-year infrastructure pipeline recognising that major projects take many years to plan, design and deliver. A L0-year pipeline provides certainty for state governments and industry about where the Australian Government will be investing over the longer-term, giving them the certainty to do necessary preparatory work, to make investments in new capacity and workforce and allow scheduling of works in what is already a very busy construction market in Melbourne. Funding profiles represent our current estimate of when these new projects will commence, which is subject to further consultation with the Victorian governments. These are not Commonwealth assets and it is the responsibility of the state government to do the planning and capital works. lf the Victorian can deliver these projects earlier than has been estimated in the Budget, then the funding will be paid sooner. Funding profiles for all projects in the Budget have been tabled at Senate Estimates, and will be made publicly on the federal financial relations websitel as usual, once the Victorian governments has agreed to accept our support for these projects. These estimates are updated over time as Victoria's progress with project delivery becomes more certain. 5. Will you review and replace regulations and directives to CASA and Airservices Australia to ensure that non-emergency flight amenity impacts over built up areas can be effectively monitored, managed and - where they have significant amenity and safety impacts such as occurs in the vicinity of the Yarra River in the inner city - minimised? The Morrison Government remains fully committed to ensuring the safe and effective operation of airports whilst continuing to improve the management of impacts, such as aircraft noise, particularly for those communities living close to airports or flight paths. Both Airservices and the Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) have legislated obligations to seek to minimise the environmental impacts of aircraft wherever possible. Airservices Australia has a public consultation process for major airport flight path changes and information can be found here. http ://www.federa lfinancialrelations.gov.au/ 3 Many areas of Melbourne experience some degree of aircraft noise, and this will inevitably continue as aviation infrastructure expands to support the growing economy and population of the city. Between the three metropolitan airports (Tullamarine, Essendon and Moorabbin), there are currently around 1,600 aircraft movements on average each day. The Senate Rural and RegionalAffairs and Transport Legislation Committee did