Section Navigation
Media
Breadcrumb Navigation
22 January 2009
$30 Million for new National Groundwater Centre
Joint release with Senator the Hon Penny Wong Minister for Climate Change and Water
The Rudd Government today announced a national consortium led by Flinders University will administer $30 million in Australian Government funding for a new National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training.
Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, and Minister for Innovation and Research, Senator Kim Carr, said the new centre was an important investment in helping secure Australia’s future water supplies.
“In Australia’s water management, groundwater has often been overlooked,” Senator Wong said while making the announcement at Flinders University.
“The new National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training will undertake important work to help us manage our groundwater in a more sustainable way.
“It will also help state and territory governments deliver on reforms under the National Water Initiative to improve groundwater management and knowledge,” Senator Wong said.
The centre is jointly funded by the Australian Research Council and the National Water Commission, with $30 million in additional contributions from the twenty organisations involved. It will support the Rudd Government’s long-term plan to secure Australia’s water supplies: Water for the Future.
Other partners involved in the new $60 million centre include the University of New South Wales, the University of Queensland, the Australian National University, CSIRO, Geoscience Australia, and the NSW and SA governments.
Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Kim Carr, said the centre would help tackle the shortage of skilled groundwater scientists and managers.
“The centre will train a new generation of scientists in advanced hydrogeological and related technologies, and improve our knowledge of groundwater connectivity, policy and management,” Senator Carr said.
| Media contacts: | ||
Ilsa Colson |
Senator Wong’s office |
0418 368 639 |
