1. Introduction

1. A fundamental goal of government is improvement of the community's standard of living. throughout this paper the community's standard of living is viewed in a broad sense. In addition to income levels or the consumption of goods and services, it includes a range of other things that we vaiue, including the environment, social justice, and personal freedoms. It is thus more akin to the notion of quality of life.

2. How governments implement this goal depends on the relative values that might be placed on the component parts of the community's stock of natural and other assets. (These assets will include natural resources and natural environments, urban environments and cultural heritage, the capital stock, including infrastructure, and human resources).

3. The decision by the Government to formulate a sustainable development strategy reflects growing community recognition that, in pursuing material welfare, insufficient value has often been placed on the environmental factors that also contribute to our standard of living.

4. It also reflects a recognition that economic growth and a well-managed environment are fundamentally linked. Our economic activities can and do affect the environment, and if we do not look after our environment our economic future can ultimately be put at risk. On the other hand, moving towards ecologically sustainable development can open up new commercial opportunities and provide both economic and environmental benefits.

5. Many resource use decisions are made that do not take sufficient account of these linkages. This has led to unacceptable environmental consequences. The existing approaches to environmental protection have not always been adequate to avoid significant damage.

6. The task confronting us is to take better care of the environment while ensuring economic growth, both now and ln the future. Ecologlcally sustalnable development provldes a conceptual framework for integrating these economic and envlronmental objectlves, so that products, productlon processes and servlces can be developed that are both internatlonally competitive and more environmentally compatible.

7. There are many optlons avallable to effect the transition. There is much scope for governments lndustrles and lndividuals to influence the outcome. Given the rapld shifts in public opinion world wide in favour of greater environmental protection and more environmentally benign processes, there are considerable benefits potentially available to countries and companies that move quickly to develop And market the technologies that can meet those new demands.

8. The sustainable development strategy will focus initially on industries based on the use of natural resources - agriculture, forestry, fishing, mining - and industries that have a considerable impact on natural resources - energy production and use, manufacturing, tourism and transport. There are of course, some important linkages between the various sectors and it will be important to ensure consistency of approach across sectors in developing the sectoral strategy proposals.

9. The task for the working groups will be to identify the most important problem areas, to set some priorities for achieving the changes desired, to develop solutions that meet both environmental and economic goals, and to propose time-frames for change that take account of the Government's social justice policies and Australia's place ln the world.

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3. THE CURRENT POSITION

57. Australia is already some way down the path towards ecologically sustainable development. It now needs to broaden and accelerate its efforts.

58. Australian concerns for the impact of human activity on renewable resources were explicitly recognised when the National Conservation Strategy for Australia (NCSA) was developed in 1983 through a process of wide public consultation. Sustainable principles have since underpinned many policies and programs for soil, water fishes and trees.

59. More recently, the Government has taken steps to ensure a better integration of environmental considerations in its own economic decision making. The Environment Minister is now a member of the Structural Adjustment Committee of Cabinet, and environmental impacts are addressed in Cabinet submissions. A special Cabinet sub-committee on sustainable development has been established to oversee the Commonwealth's part in formulating the sustainable development strategy.

60. The task now is to extend the principles of ecologically sustainable development to all areas of economic and environmental decision-making, from those made by individuals to those made by governments.

61. As the Prime Minister's 1989 statement on the environment acknowledged, this is not a task the Commonwealth can accomplish on its own. Government decisions are only some of the wide array of decisions made by all parts of society which have environmental and economic impacts.

62. Fostering economic development that is ecologically sustainable will necessitate some changes in the way both producers and consumers use resources. It is the task of governments to set acceptable standards for resource use in consultation with other levels of government and other groups within the community. To ensure the best possible outcome for all Australians, we need to identify and evaluate the widest possible range of policy instruments which might be used to implement these standards and to change patterns of resource use. Wherever possible, it is desirable to identify mechanisms which promote both the nation's environmental goals and economic prosperity.

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