SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

26^th March 2012

Tony Burke MP

Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities

Parliament House

Canberra

Dear Tony,

SHAME, SHAME, SHAME

I have deliberately left out the honourable as there is nothing honourable about the Federal Labor Party.

You should all hang your heads in shame at the situation that stares you directly in the face today, that is the political oblivion of the Labor Party.

While I have grown up in a conservative environment I have 2 sisters who are school teachers and vote Labor, they have even convinced me to vote Labor a couple of times, NEVER EVER AGAIN WILL I VOTE LABOR. The Labor party was always the party that fought for the worker and had a proud heritage, it is a mere shadow of its former self today.

As you are probably well aware I have been very involved in the Murray Darling Basin plan consultation process. If you have any decency at all you must withdraw from this process immediately as it is glaringly obvious you have no mandate to continue, not doing this and continuing will dig your political grave ever deeper.

I feel no pride at all about the smashing Labor received in Queensland, instead I feel very sad as it is you Tony and your Federal colleagues who are more than 50% responsible for it.

Anna Bligh is a decent person and did not deserve what she got.

What is now happening is a huge body blow for the Australian Labor Party and will see you thrown in to political oblivion for a long time and it is all your own fault, you have no idea about the dreams and aspirations of the average Australian and are so far out of tune with your constituents it is a very rude joke.

The Murray Darling Basin irrigation areas was born of the same vision such as the Snowy Mountains scheme, we need that same vision again today.

Since the inception of irrigation successive State and Federal governments (you included) have charged farmers for irrigation water but yet have spent miserable amounts of money maintaining and improving this same system. This can not and must not continue, time for you all to cough up and invest in to this fabulous asset we all have and bring it in to the 21^st century. In doing this you will also return all the water required for environmental flows plus much more.

Wishing you a Merry Christmas and hopefully you can bring a successful 2012 to us all.

Yours Faithfully,

Peter Gilmour