The second round of the Coalition Government’s Murray–Darling Healthy Rivers Program is now open for grant applications.

Deputy Prime Minister and Member for New England, Barnaby Joyce encouraged community groups, farmers and landholders across New England to apply under the second round of grants.

“New England is already benefitting from 13 grants valued at nearly $600,000, which were awarded under the first round of the program,” Mr Joyce said.

“Under the first round, Delubra Pastoral Pty Ltd at Emmaville was awarded $55,000 to reduce erosion and control livestock grazing along the Severn River.

“Healthy Rivers grants will support the environment as well as real jobs and local businesses across New England,” Mr Joyce said.

“This will stimulate our economy in its recovery from COVID-19 and the drought.

“We have increased the number of eligible entities, so check the guidelines to see if you could receive a grant,” Mr Joyce said.

This second round will include a stream for large grants, valued between $100,000 and $2 million, in addition to a small grants stream for projects valued at $5,000 to $100,000.

Minister for Resources and Water, Keith Pitt said these grants are a great opportunity for communities across the Murray–Darling Basin to improve the health of rivers and wetlands.

“It was great to see people across the Basin support the first round of the program, with 74 grants awarded to communities ranging from Goondiwindi to Meningie,” Mr Pitt said.

“The second round of grants will build upon the first round, investing in communities to get out on the ground and support their local environment.

“These grants could fund a wide variety of projects from planting native seedlings along riverbanks to reduce erosion and provide habitat for native birds and animals, to controlling invasive species which threaten native species and farmers’ crops,” Mr Pitt said.

“Large grants could be used for projects which have catchment-scale benefits, or higher value localised projects, such as installing fish ladders and culverts to allow native fish to travel throughout the entire river.

“We have made some changes to the guidelines in response to feedback from Round 1.

“These include making more entities eligible and increasing the maximum funding amount for small grants to $100,000, to minimise red tape for more applicants.”

“Applications for both small and large grants are now open and will close on 6 October 2021, so share the news and get your applications in,” Mr Pitt said.

The Healthy Rivers Program is a key part of the Australian Government’s Murray–Darling Communities Investment Package, which is putting communities at the centre of the Basin Plan.

To learn more about eligible activities or to apply, visit the Community Grants Hub.