SEAFOOD Industry Australia (SIA), the national peak-body representing Australia’s commercial fishing industry, used World Fisheries Day on Friday to encourage all Australians to celebrate.

“We really are the lucky country when it comes to seafood, and we have a lot to be proud of,” SIA CEO Jane Lovell said. “To celebrate, why not tuck into some great Aussie seafood brought to you by the 41,000 peoplei in this country who work hard to supply the best quality seafood all year-round.

“We should also celebrate the fact the Australian seafood industry continues to be a world leader when it comes to sustainability and innovation.
“For the sixth consecutive year, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences (ABARES) has given our solely Commonwealth-managed fisheries a positive report card.

“This is unprecedented internationally and highlights the quality of Australia’s Commonwealth fisheries management and commitment to providing Australians with sustainable seafood," Ms Lovell said. “An example of home-grown innovation is the world-first prawn traceability program which verifies provenance to a forensic standard, protecting the integrity and origin of Australian prawns.

“In another milestone, SIA recently launched Our Pledge. This is our commitment to the community, and to each other, that we will do the right thing to ensure a vibrant future for the Australian seafood industry.

“World Fisheries Day gives us the opportunity not only to celebrate these milestones, but to highlight the importance of healthy oceans and environments.
“Actively caring for our ocean and environment is a key part of Our Pledge.

“Australians love their premium quality seafood, and the Australian seafood industry is committed to putting great local seafood on tables locally and across the world for generations to come.”

www.seafoodindustryaustralia.com.au

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WAHAT DO Australia’s climate change, finite water resources, resource management and energy-future challenges have in common? The 2019 Australian Groundwater Conference will outline an important commonality: they all require Australia’s groundwater experts to implement innovative groundwater solutions to meet Australia’s resilience aims.

The Brisbane event will host more than 500 of Australasia’s groundwater experts, with international speakers, to reveal the latest research into groundwater science and management.

The three day conference canvasses topics as diverse as mapping water trends across Australia, drinking water security in Asia and the Pacific, risks associated with fracking, and the conservation and management of groundwater with Indigenous stakeholders.

Speakers will highlight:

• The role that groundwater storage (‘managed aquifer recharge’) has in improving drought resilience and minimising water losses from surface water evaporation.
• How improvements in groundwater modelling science have increased our understanding of interactions between energy systems (onshore gas; geosequestation; geothermal) and groundwater systems.
• The latest in PFAS contamination research and solutions.
• The role that next-generation ‘water fingerprinting’ (groundwater isotope studies) has in determining the age and providence of our groundwater resources.
• The role Indigenous groundwater research can play in modern groundwater practices.
• New techniques for characterising and managing groundwater dependent ecosystems.

Conference chair, Professor Jim Underschultz said with the theme of 'Groundwater in a Changing World', AGC2019 is the preeminent gathering a water resource professionals in the Southern Hemisphere that happens once every two years 

 “Groundwater is increasingly recognised as a vital element in world water resource management and an important contributor to global health, economies, and social and environmental wellbeing," Prof. Underschultz said.

“Academic, government, consulting and industry members of the International Association of Hydrogeologists from the Australasian region will explore recent advancements in hydrogeology and water resources management, the implications of climate change and the impacts on agricultural, resource and infrastructure industries.”

Jointly hosted by the International Association of Hydrogeologists Australia (IAH) and the National Centre for Groundwater Research and Training (NCGRT) at Flinders University, the groundwater conference will be held at the Brisbane Convention and Expo Centre.

To be opened by Queensland's chief scientist, Prof. Paul Bertsch, the conference will  feature six plenary presentations, 295 oral presentations, 90 poster presentations, and five panel sessions bringing together a mix of industry leaders, policy makers and scientists.

The event will also host the 2019 IAH Groundwater Industry Awards at the Queensland Museum on Monday November 25.

Australasian Groundwater Conference 2019

24-27 November 2019
Brisbane Convention and Expo Centre
Brisbane Southbank, Queensland
https://www.groundwaterconference.com.au/

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ON MONDAY November 25, the PFAS Sub-committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCFADT) will hold the first public hearing for its inquiry into the Department of Defence’s remediation of per-and poly-fluoroalkyl substance (PFAS) contamination on defence bases.

The chair of the PFAS Sub-committee the John McVeigh MP said the National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health at the Australian National University (ANU) has been invited to report on work being advanced under its PFAS Health Study.

“The ANU’s PFAS Health Study was commissioned by the Department of Health to examine the potential health effects of PFAS exposure on people who have lived or worked in the areas surrounding RAAF Base Williamtown, the Army Aviation Centre Oakey and the RAAF Base Tindal,” Dr McVeigh said.

Dr McVeigh explained that the epidemiological study utilises blood samples gathered by the government in a free blood testing program for people who had possible exposure to PFAS at/or near these sites. The PFAS research team will use this source for comparison and analysis and release a sequence of assessments over 2020.

“Phase two of the study, now underway, will establish whether rates of diseases, including cancers, can be associated with higher PFAS exposure among people who have lived in the investigation areas, compared to the general population”, Dr McVeigh said.

“The PFAS Health Study is doing essential work to provide up-to-date results based on local information to affected communities, as international research continues.”

The PFAS Sub-committee’s scrutiny follows on from recommendations made to Government last parliament that the Department of Health should review its advice in relation to the human health effects of PFAS and its potential links to certain medical conditions.

The inquiry report, tabled in December 2018, made nine recommendations to address Government’s management and coordination of PFAS remediation and related concerns.

Public hearing details: 

Date: Monday 25 November 2019
Time: Approximately 4:10pm to 5pm
Location: Committee Room IR4, Parliament House, Canberra.

This hearing will be audio streamed live at www.aph.gov.au/live.

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THE long-term stewards of major Australian infrastructure assets will make a $25 billion capital expenditure investment to upgrade and expand their assets over the decade to 2030.

The expenditure will build the value of these investments for millions of industry super fund members by ensuring they continue to deliver the services the community expect for many decades to come.  The expenditure is expected to generate more than 50,000 new jobs over the next decade.

The assets include iconic Australian household names like electricity distributor Ausgrid and the international airports for the cities of Brisbane, Melbourne, Darwin and Adelaide, as well as major seaports such as the Port of Brisbane, Port Botany and Port Kembla.

The new investment aligns with a recent exhortation from Australian Treasurer Josh Frydenberg, who in August called for such measures in preference to share buybacks and special dividends.

IFM Investors CEO Brett Himbury said the investment would drive strong and stable returns for 7 million working Australians invested in the assets through their industry super funds, as well as giving the whole nation a productivity and jobs boost.

“This ongoing capital expenditure is a result of the alignment between the long term time horizon of superannuation money and major critical Australian infrastructure," Mr Himbury said.

"The responsible stewardship of these assets by industry super funds and their partners protects and grows the retirement savings of members. These investments are an investment in the future value of these assets and will increase the productive capacity of the entire country.”

The $25 billion in capital expenditure will fund numerous new projects, including a rail upgrade at Port Botany to continue the shift of freight from road onto rail, new solar generation at Darwin Airport that will support reductions in carbon emissions and reduce energy costs, a new international cruise ship terminal at the Port of Brisbane, and several airport terminal and aviation capacity upgrades across Australia’s growing international city airports.

The additional investment will average over $2 billion per annum through the next decade, exceeding $2.6 billion per annum in 2020, 2021 and 2028.

Over the last eight years, IFM Investors and its partners have supported $8.7 billion in capital expenditure at its major Australian infrastructure assets, including $1.3 billion on the new second runway at Brisbane Airport, at the time the largest private expenditure into airport infrastructure, globally.  

Major new terminals were also built in recent years at Darwin, Adelaide and Melbourne airports and a $110 million road upgrade delivered at Port of Brisbane.

www.ifminvestors.com

About IFM Investors:

IFM Investors is an investor-owned global fund manager with A$152 billion under management as of September 30, 2019. Established more than 20 years ago and owned by 27 major pension funds, IFM Investors’ interests are deeply aligned with those of its investors. Investment teams in Europe, North America, Australia and Asia manage institutional strategies across infrastructure (equity and debt), debt investments, listed equities and private capital. IFM Investors is committed to the United Nations supported Principles for Responsible Investment and has been a signatory since 2008. IFM Investors has offices in nine locations; Melbourne, Sydney, New York, London, Berlin, Tokyo, Hong Kong, Seoul and Zurich. 

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