Further delay in release of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan
08-August-2011
The Federal Government has announced another delay on the release of the Murray-Darling Basin plan, with it now due to be delivered in mid-October.
Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton said this delay will come as a blow to those hoping for certainty in the Basin communities, as the implementation of the Murray-Darling reform is now running more than a year late.
However, Mr Coulton stated that if time was what was needed to make sure the Murray-Darling Basin Authority gets this plan right, then time is what they should get.
“We saw the mistakes that were made with the Guide to the proposed Basin Plan, which was released in October 2010. The guide was completely biased to the needs of the environment, taking little account into the social and economic aspects of the Basin.”
“Balance is what is needed in the Basin. However, the plan must also address the lack of infrastructure spending to improve water use efficiency,” Mr Coulton said. “Every year the Government has spent more on water buybacks than planned, and less on water-saving infrastructure. This is the wrong direction to be heading.”
“The recent House of Representatives bipartisan inquiry into the Murray-Darling gave a damning indictment of how the Government has conducted $1.5 billion of water buybacks in a non-strategic way, how it is has failed to invest in water-saving infrastructure and how its management of the Commonwealth’s billion dollar portfolio has been opaque.”
“The communities in the Basin have little trust in the Government when it comes to the management of the Murray-Darling Basin,” Mr Coulton said. “Although the delay gives the Authority more time to make sure all elements of the plan are feasible, the Government still needs to accept responsibility that the more delays they create the further uncertainty they are placing on these Basin communities.”