08 April 2011 in Media
The decision by the South Australian Government to delay the removal of the Clayton Bay and Currency Creek ‘temporary’ bunds is an absolute disgrace.
The State Labor Government wrote to the Federal Environment Department this week to get an extension to the environmental approval for the so called ‘temporary’ bunds.
When the ‘temporary’ bunds were announced by the State Labor Government, the community was assured that there was a plan and money was allocated for there removal when conditions returned to normal. Once again the people of the Lower Lakes have been misled and the environment suffers.
The letter from the State Government Departmental official to the Federal Government seeking approval for the environmental extension makes this clear. The letter says that the bunds were implemented at time when:
‘...the processes required to complete removal of the structures were not well understood’.
The letter also makes clear that the State Government has failed to budget for the removal of the bunds.
At the very least you would have expected that when the bunds were installed the State Labor Government would have been genuine in its assurances that there was a plan to remove them. They were not.
There is $200 million allocated to the future of the Lower Lakes. Surely it is not beyond the State and Federal Labor Governments to work out how to spend some of this money on ensuring that these ‘temporary’ bunds are removed.
I only hope that the Labor Governments are more ‘temporary’ than the bunds.
The Federal Government should only allow an extension long enough to ensure the ‘temporary’ bunds are removed as was originally promised.