26 September 2023

Take a peek at PS from the PaSt: 22 – 28 November 2011

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1. This week 10 years ago, the world’s most advanced bio-secure laboratory, CSIRO’s Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL), was officially opened, in Geelong, Victoria.

Minister for Innovation, Senator Kim Carr said the AAHL Collaborative Biosecurity Research Facility (ACBRF) would allow researchers from across Australia and overseas to work together on projects of national importance.

“Facilities like the ACBRF increase our ability to deal quickly and effectively with emerging diseases which could harm people, animals and crops both in Australia and overseas,” Senator Carr said.

“These threats have economic, environmental and social consequences on agricultural productivity, food security, animal and human health, and biodiversity.”

2. Minister for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Greg Combet announced the Clean Energy Regulator would begin operations on 2 April 2012.

The Regulator, the administrative body for the carbon pricing mechanism, would be responsible for the National Greenhouse and Energy Reporting System, the Renewable Energy Target, and the Carbon Farming Initiative.

Mr Combet said he was committed to working closely with companies that would be covered by the clean energy legislation.

“The Government will continue consulting with liable entities as we develop the processes and procedures for the administration of the carbon price mechanism,” Mr Combet said.

3. The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Air Mobility Control Centre (AMCC) was awarded the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Grand Master’s Australian Medal in recognition of its lifesaving role in the natural disasters that hit three States earlier in the year.

The AMCC coordinated the Australian Defence Force’s airlift responses to the disasters.

Acting Chief of Air Force, Air Vice-Marshal Neil Hart said the award was hard-earned recognition for one of the busiest Agencies in the RAAF.

“Without their efforts, Defence would not have been able to respond as effectively to natural disasters this year, much less to our other standing commitments,” Air Vice-Marshal Hart said.

4. WA Minister for Mines and Petroleum, Norman Moore released the world’s largest satellite-derived geosciences map, which captured the entire State.

Mr Moore said the Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection (ASTER) map provided a new generation of satellite information that would change the way explorers looked for mineral deposits.

“The suite of satellite-derived ASTER products that make up the map will supply basic information about the dominant rock and soil-forming mineral components of WA,” Mr Moore said.

“The resources sector will benefit greatly from access to the map, which provides better characterisation and understanding of the State’s geology.”

5. Also this week a decade ago, a trial of the first artificial reef in West Australian waters was given the go-ahead by Minister for Fisheries, Norman Moore, who said the South-West Recreational Fishing Enhancement Pilot Project was designed to increase available habitat for key fish species in Geographe Bay.

“If these structures meet their potential, they will benefit the local environment and local communities, complement Western Australia’s robust and adaptive fisheries’ management approach, and help ensure fish stocks are kept sustainable,” Mr Moore said.

6. Staying in Western Australia, Minister for the Environment, Bill Marmion announced that the woylie conservation project in the South-West being run by the Department of Environment and Conservation had seen numbers of the endangered marsupial double in less than a year.

Mr Marmion said 41 woylies were released in December 2010 into Perup Sanctuary, a predator-free 420 ha enclosure and recent radio-tracking and trapping had revealed there were now more than 83 woylies in the sanctuary.

“The woylie population growth rate is on track to meet the aim that the sanctuary will support at least 400 woylies within the next five to 10 years,” Mr Marmion said.

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