JULIAN LUKE
DEPUTY Premier Andrew Stoner has threatened to pull out of the Basin Plan if the federal government does not urgently consult with NSW about its proposal to increase the amount of water delivered to the environment.
NSW was left out of Friday's announcement, where federal Water Minister Tony Burke and Prime Minister Julia Gillard stood shoulder-to-shoulder with South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill to announce an extra 450 gigalitres to be returned to the Murray-Darling Basin environment.
The federal government is now proposing to return a total of 3200GL to the environment before 2024, and announced a $1.77 billion fund to deliver the additional 450GL.
The first NSW heard about the announcement was a phone call "after 5pm" on Thursday from Minister Burke. Since that call, there has been no official communication with the NSW government.
The Victorian government has also railed against the announcement, and Mr Stoner reiterated the point that a Basin Plan would not work without NSW support.
While the SA government has now taken its threat of High Court action off the table, Mr Stoner said he was considering all options.
"A plan will not happen... without the support of Queensland, NSW, Victoria and to a lesser extent the ACT," Mr Stoner said.
"NSW is the biggest player with 56 per cent of the Murray-Darling Basin - it won't go ahead without us."
Mr Stoner said the government had not yet convinced the NSW government 2750GL could be delivered, let alone the additional 450GL.
"For them to announce 3200GL in Adelaide, without having addressed our concerns, frankly is a slap in the face... to all Basin communities," he said.
"I don't rule out that we could get there in terms of an agreement, but the Commonwealth seems to be saying 'we're going to to do the deal that appeases SA, and the rest of you can go jump'.
"Clearly Julia Gillard is quite happy to appease a Labor State but when it comes to working with the States that have to deliver pretty much all the savings she doesn't want to engage."
As part of its $1.7b package, the government has allocated about $200m to remove constraints to deliver the additional 450GL, while about $1.5b has been made available for on-farm efficiencies to improve water infrastructure.
NSW Irrigators Council chief executive Andrew Gregson said the federal government's lack of understanding of constraints was troubling.
"What they call 'constraints', we call roads, bridges, towns, farms and houses. This isn't simply a problem that can be solved by throwing money at it," he said.
"It's absurd to be increasing the volume of water that you're seeking to acquire without a plan to use it or to know the implications of trying to deliver it.
"A failure to address that will likely see the entire Basin Plan fail."
Water Minister Tony Burke reaffirmed his commitment to have the final Basin Plan to Federal Parliament before the end of the year. Yesterday was the final sitting day of both houses in October, after which there is only the final week at the end of November.
"For too long we've had a situation where the waters that are immediately behind us were managed as though they would stop and pay attention to the boundaries of different States," Mr Burke said on Friday.
"The environment never worked that way and the river did more than negotiate back.
"Whenever (the next drought) comes the system will approach that drought with a level of resilience that it hasn't had in more than a generation."
Mr Burke admitted he was still working through the "final details" with water ministers from Queensland, NSW and Victoria.
Prime Minister Gillard said the $1.77b fund was "already provisioned for in the government's accounts". Just $56m will be delivered in the first two years, and legislation will need to pass the parliament to allow for the remainder of the money.
"The focus of the $1.77b is on things like on-farm changes that can make a difference for the amount of water in the river," Ms Gillard said.
"It takes time to restore the river to health but this is a plan that would be locked away, money that would be locked away to get the changes that the river needs."
The announcement has divided the Coalition, with NSW Liberal MPs railing against the additional environmental water and rumours of some Opposition front benchers threatening to cross the floor to vote with the government.
The Problem is no money for infrastructure and there has been no new projects Since the snowy mountain scheme =this is all due to the wealth looting global changes started by Hawke & Keating and followed since by Labor and Liberal Governments . Plus this obscene crusade that Tony Burke is leading the Government on is nothing more than green fascism. To give Adelaide and the farmers more security in dry spells which are just normal part of nature More Infrastructure Must Be Built Starting With CLARENCE RIVER SCHEME a Realm Boost to the Murray / Darling Basin but not much likely hood of this happening with Liberal, Labor, Nationals & Green Political Parties in charge they are all morally Corrupt. http://cecaust.com.au/resolution/
ReplyDeleteRiver Murray Weekly Flow Report
ReplyDeletePosted 9 November, 2012, 10:32 am under News.
Flow to South Australia
Report #44/2012
This supersedes the previous flow report issued by the Department of Environment, Water and Natural Resource (DEWNR) on 2 November 2012. The next flow report and water resources update will be provided on Friday, 16 November 2012.
FLOW OUTLOOK
The flow at the South Australian border is approximately 17 500 ML/day and is likely to reduce to around 14 000 ML/day during the coming week, depending on upstream operations and rainfall events. In accordance with the requirements of the Murray‐Darling Basin Agreement, the Murray‐Darling Basin Authority has issued an instruction to gradually fill Lake Victoria to 100 percent. Lake Victoria storage is currently at 99 percent capacity.
River Murray Weekly Flow Report