29 November 2011 in Media
I welcome the release of the much delayed draft Murray Darling Basin plan.
The next 20 weeks will be an important opportunity for those affected by the reform to provide feedback to the process to improve the draft where possible.
I believe, very strongly, that this reform is not only needed but it is long overdue. Labor has wasted four years sitting on billions of dollars of money that could have saved much needed water.
I have long believed that the only way forward for the Murray Darling Basin is for a national independent authority to draft a plan based on the best available information. I understand that there are concerns from the many stakeholders involved however I believe that rather than reverting to old fashion parochial political positions, it is incumbent on all of us to work through to a long term plan for the Basin. Throwing the toys out of cot because you don’t get everything you want is no longer a sustainable answer.
The communities on the Lower Lakes have seen the worst of the effects of the over allocation crisis. They know that the Murray Darling Basin can not continue to be Australia’s food bowl unless the amount of water taken from it is reduced to sustainable levels.
I congratulate the Authority for committing to the target of keeping the mouth of the Murray open 89% of the time. This will ensure that a regular flow will flush out the build of salt and ensure the health of the system. I have long believed that the plan should be focussed on outcomes.
Equally it does concern me that there is enormous uncertainty in this draft and that South Australian irrigators who have undertaken irrigation efficiencies long ago face the prospect under this draft plan of even larger cuts than a year ago.
I call on Premier Weatherill to put aside his personal political motives and abandon his ridiculous threat of High Court action and play a positive role in ensuring Basin reform.
This opportunity for reform is once in a generation. If parochial politics stops it again, it will be all of us that suffer the consequences.