Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Veterans' Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

asked the Minister representing the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, upon notice, on 28 June 2012:

With reference to the Kokoda Initiative Annual Report 2010-2011, in particular the goal of ‘A safe and well-managed Kokoda Track, which honours its wartime historical significance and protects and promotes its special values’:

(1) What action has been initiated to develop a Wartime Heritage Interpretation Plan, to honour the wartime historical significance of the Kokoda campaign.

(2) What reports have been compiled in relation to preserving and commemorating the military history of the Kokoda campaign.

(3) What are the ‘special values’ associated with the Kokoda Trail.

Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has provided the following answer to the honourable senator’s question:

1) An Interpretation Scoping Study has been commissioned by the Australian Government under the Kokoda Initiative to assess the options for interpretation planning for the Kokoda Track Region, including the Owen Stanley Ranges and Brown River Catchment area.

2) The following reports have been commissioned by the Australian Government:

3)   Under the Kokoda Initiative the Australian Government is providing assistance to Papua New Guinea to help identify and assess the special values of the Kokoda Track and surrounding Owen Stanley Ranges and Brown River Catchment region. These may include natural values such as the outstanding biodiversity of the region, the importance of the local Papua New Guinean cultural heritage and the military history values.