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Minister for the Environment and Water
Commonwealth Coat of Arms
Flag of Australia
Incumbent Tanya Plibersek since 1 June 2022 (2022-06-01)
Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water
Style	The Honourable
Appointer	Governor-General on the advice of the prime minister
Inaugural holder	Peter Howson (as Minister for the Environment, Aborigines and the Arts)
Formation	10 March 1971 (1971-03-10)
Website	minister.dcceew.gov.au/plibersek

The Australian Minister for the Environment and Water is a position which is currently held by Tanya Plibersek in the Albanese ministry since 1 June 2022, following the Australian federal election in 2022.

In the Government of Australia, the minister and assistant minister are responsible for the protection and conservation of the environment; to ensure that Australia benefits from meteorological and related sciences and services; and to see that Australia's interests in Antarctica are advanced. The minister provides direction and oversight of the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment (previously the Department of the Environment and Energy, and before that the Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities) to develop and implement national policy, programs and legislation to protect and conserve Australia's environment and heritage.

Portfolio responsibilities

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The minister administers their portfolio through the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water and its environment component bodies, including:

• Antarctic Animal Ethics Committee
• Antarctic Ethics Committee (Human Experimentation)
• Antarctic Research Assessment Committees (ARACs)
• Antarctic Science Advisory Committee
• Australia-Netherlands Committee on Old Dutch Shipwrecks
• Australian Antarctic Names and Medals Committee
• Australian Heritage Council
• Bureau of Meteorology
• Environment Protection and Heritage Council
• Great Barrier Reef Consultative Committee
• Great Barrier Reef Marine Park Authority
• Great Barrier Reef Ministerial Council
• Great Barrier Reef Structural Adjustment Package Technical Advisory Committee
• Hazardous Waste Technical Group
• Murray-Darling Basin Authority
• National Environment Protection Council
• National Environmental Education Council
• New South Wales World Heritage Properties Ministerial Council
• Office of the Renewable Energy Regulator
• Science Program Management Committee
• State of the Environment Committee 2006
• Stockholm Intergovernmental Forum
• Sydney Harbour Federation Trust
• Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area Ministerial Council
• Threatened Species Scientific Committee
• Wet Tropics Ministerial Council

List of ministers

Environment

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for the Environment, or any precedent titles:

Notes

Whitlam was one of a two-man ministry consisting of himself and Lance Barnard for two weeks until the full ministry was announced.

Water

The following individuals have been appointed as Minister for Water, or any precedent titles:

Former ministerial portfolios

List of ministers for population

The following individuals have served as the Minister for Cities, or any other precedent titles: The Minister for Sustainable Population was a ministerial portfolio administered through the Department of the Treasury responsible for "planning properly for the infrastructure needs, for the housing needs, for the transport needs, for the regional needs" of the Australian population of the future. Originally entitled the Minister for Population by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, his successor, Julia Gillard, renamed the portfolio to the Minister for Sustainable Population to reflect her policy changes on the matter of population growth and the need for a sustainable future for Australia, saying the change sends a clear message about the new direction the Government is taking. After the 2010 federal election, the portfolio was subsumed by the Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities portfolio.

Assistant ministers

List of assistant ministers for the environment

The following individual has served as the Assistant Minister for the Environment.

List of assistant ministers for water

The following individual has served as the Assistant Minister for Water.

See also

• Ministers for Environment
  • Minister for the Environment (New South Wales)
  • Minister for the Environment (Victoria)
  • Minister for Environment (Western Australia)
  • Minister for the Environment, Climate Change and Water Security (Northern Territory)
• Ministers for Water
  • Minister for Water (New South Wales)
  • Minister for Water (Victoria)
  • Minister for Water (Western Australia)

References

1. "Press Conference - Parliament House, Canberra | Prime Minister of Australia". www.pm.gov.au. 23 May 2022. Retrieved 27 May 2022.
2. "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
3. "Ministries and Cabinets". 43rd Parliamentary Handbook: Historical information on the Australian Parliament. Parliament of Australia. 2010. Archived from the original on 13 August 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2013.
4. "Ministerial Swearing-in Ceremony". Events. Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia. 18 February 2016. Archived from the original on 1 March 2016. Retrieved 19 February 2016.
5. "Burke takes on population portfolio". ABC News. Australia. 3 April 2010.
6. "Gillard puts brakes on 'big Australia'". ABC News. Australia. 27 June 2010. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
7. "Second Gillard Ministry" (PDF). The Australian. 14 September 2010. Retrieved 14 September 2010.

External links

• Official website

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Current Ministry

• Lists of government ministers of Australia