Politicised water policy not serving us well
LAST week, the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists confirmed that the basin plan has not delivered the water that we have paid for and that up to 20 per cent appears to be missing.
Other research from ABARES tells us that efficiency projects actually drive the price of water up in comparison with buybacks of water shares from willing sellers.
Yet on Friday, the federal water minister announced that the federal government will end all buybacks of water for the river system. Go figure.
We still have billions to spend on water recovery from the basin plan budget and yet in the northern basin, billions of litres are taken by irrigators unlicensed, unmetered and free.
Floodplain harvesting. Some say it is illegal and no-one knows how much is taken and yet taxpayers have forked out thinking we will hand down a healthy river system to our grandchildren and that they too might enjoy the pleasure of a dip in the river and catching a fish or two at Easter.
To add insult to injury, NSW are submitting water sharing plans that propose to take even more water going forward.
Towns, First Nations people, river loving folk and southern basin irrigators have a right to know how much is taken in floodplain harvesting and whether it is legal or not.
We should expect that if we are funding expensive water recovery for the public good, then all water use be metered and properly accounted for.
It affects our water security and our floodplain ecosystems in the south when the Darling does not flow.
Victoria owns a share of the water held in the Menindee Lakes over a certain level.
How is this agreement being compensated if NSW (with the unjustified support of our federal member Anne Webster ‘Real, positive change, Webster says’, The Guardian, September 4, 2020) goes ahead with changes to the Menindee Lakes?
The proposed changes at Menindee assure the continued deterioration of the Lower Darling and threaten Victoria’s water security.
Still, In Victoria, our government is rushing ahead our suite of Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism projects (aka Victorian Murray Floodplain Restoration Projects).
These projects aim to spend millions of dollars to deliver water to floodplains through engineering works.
The idea is to water the floodplain using less water, leaving more for irrigation, whilst claiming to deliver equivalent environmental outcomes.
These areas, that until quite recently flooded naturally and transformed our riverine forests and lakes into productive, vibrant and unique ecosystems found nowhere else in the world.
It’s like putting the southern basin on dialysis, while the northern basin is still haemorrhaging.
It makes no sense for us to accept the risks and costs of these engineering projects when some in the basin are still getting water for free.
Peta Thornton,
Woorinen
Just want to see it built
I SEE our good old China Plate asking questions of me regarding the Swan Hill bridge.
First thing, unless we can get two state governments to the negotiating table this may take longer than some expect and that most hope.
The Commonwealth has confirmed its $60 million share is in the bank and good to go.
But with Daniel Andrews and Gladys Berejiklian getting on so famously over COVID-19 and other assorted issues, I will be working overtime to get that meeting set up.
Second thing, China wants to know where the new bridge is going.
I had hoped as a ‘local’ he would have worked out the same thing (also as a local) I did — the best possible place for the new bridge is adjacent to the old one.
A proposal which has been publicly and widely supported by communities both sides of the river — that just want to see it built.
Peter Walsh,
Member for Murray Plains
Build the trail and they will come
WE have just returned from Warburton were we rode the Warburton to Yarra Glen rail trail.
It was light rain and the cool temperature, it was hilly and most was dirt so we got wet and dirty but what fun.
There were so many others on the track, some walking dogs, some just walking and others like us riding, they were all ages and all having fun and keeping or getting fit.
It is a 49km ride one way, we rode one way one day and rode back the next.
There are coffee shops that have piped up along the trail as they have on most trails we ride.
We then drove to Geelong were we rode the rail trail from Geelong to Queenscliff and return, this track is sealed most of the way and again it was a cool day and again we saw so many people on the trail as before, all getting or staying fit.
We even met a small, young child having her first ride without her training wheels.
Therefore lots of groups riding and walking, all keeping to the social distancing rules.
Why can’t we have a trail here between Swan Hill and Lake Boga?
These trails are bringing in millions of dollars to those communities, and people are using them in their thousands.
It is all good returns for the community as in dollars and health benefits.
As I said, I passed a young child doing her first ride minus her training wheels. Too many old buggers like me riding and taking in the wildlife and the scenery and taking photos, to people like my wife who want to do the best time and all the time we are all getting healthier.
So please, someone, build a trail between Swan Hill and Boga.
Right now, the cycling usage in Australia is increasing at 50 per cent. That is 50 per cent more people on bikes, so what is the excuse from the council for not building a bike trail between Swan Hill and Lake Boga?
Just to give you an idea of the money being made from cycle trails, all the places we stay at when we go trail riding have told us how much their businesses have grown as more people get on bikes.
We do have a very active bike group in Swan Hill.
And lastly, in Swan Hill, we have to ride on the road to do any long rides.
On one ride in the township near McDonald’s, I seen my wife nearly hit by a semi.
She leaned away from the truck and fell from her bike. I thought I was watching my wife get killed in front of me, there is a bike lane there but it stops at the gutter, comes out closer to the road.
This does not happen on bike trails.
Just look as you travel around Swan Hill and you will see for yourself all the families and all the young kids riding bikes away from their computers and having fun staying healthy.
The bike riding 74-year-old wombat
Road to ruin fears
I WAS bitterly disappointed by the announcement by the Victorian Government of its roadmap for regional Victoria.
I am fully aware of the health risks that the coronavirus presents, however the very restrictive roadmap presented by the government for regional Victoria is devastating for thousands of regional businesses, many of which have been just holding on for the past six weeks.
I have been pressing the government since June to adopt a targeted and localised approach to restrictions in northern Victoria, in particular the local government areas that have had zero active cases for extended periods.
In my discussions with government in the lead up to debate of the proposed extension to the state of emergency, I was told definitively that this was part of their planning.
The roadmap presented by the government is extremely underwhelming, to say the least, and a galaxy away from those assurances.
Currently there are 17 local government areas in northern Victoria with not even a single case of the coronavirus.
The regional roadmap is a lost opportunity to allow many businesses the chance to safely trade within their own community.
I will continue to call on the government to urgently reconsider the alternatives that can manage the health risks and provide some economic flexibility and an immediate reopening for businesses in areas where there are no active cases.
Otherwise, we risk this roadmap being a road to ruin.
Tania Maxwell,
Member for Northern Victoria
Pig-headed ignorance
IN good news for 2020, Victorian lamb producers are looking forward to one of the best seasons in years.
But there’s massive concern in the industry that if workforce restrictions on meat processors aren’t relaxed soon, particularly in regional areas that have recorded few — if any — cases of coronavirus, that our local farmers will miss out.
Victorian producers supply nearly half of our nation’s sheep and lamb meat.
The spring peak is approaching and meat processors should be ramping up to meet a bump in demand.
But the Andrews Labor Government is refusing to budge on its demand that lamb meat processors operate with just 67 per cent of their workforce.
Labor’s agriculture minister is arrogantly ignoring warnings from industry that the workforce must be able to operate at 80 per cent to avoid huge pressure on the food supply chain and the risk that supermarket shelves will run low.
In recent years, our farmers have faced huge pressure from drought, bushfires and now the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Andrews Labor Government is now interfering in the lamb market, which is going to crash the price — taking money from farmer’s pockets at a time they can least afford.
The city-centric Andrews Labor Government’s pig-headed ignorance is an unnecessary handbrake that’s adding to the challenges currently facing our agriculture sector.
Peter Walsh,
Shadow Minister for Agriculture
Leader of The Nationals
Help get drivers off the roads
I WELCOME news that police will issue on the spot fines and immediate driving bans for people caught driving with drugs in their system, and I hope that these new measures will not only help get drug drivers off our roads but will help hold offenders accountable.
I note that the TAC reported that in the last five years, approximately 41 per cent of all drivers and motorcyclists killed who were tested had drugs in their system and 25 per cent of Victorians who use recreational drugs admit to driving under the influence.
In my submission to the Victorian Parliament’s current Road Toll Inquiry, I had called for a range of responses including the capability for all police to conduct drug testing of drivers, a review of sentencing for drug driving offences and expanded laws for automatic suspension of licences to include alleged gross negligence driving offences.
People who take illicit drugs need to understand that when they get behind the wheel, they put the lives of others at significant risk, and
I would hope that an on the spot fine and immediate ban will make first-time offenders think twice before driving a vehicle under the influence.
I hope that there will be greater scope for increasing the capacity and targets for police to conduct drug testing, which would further assist in the efforts to remove drug drivers from our roads.
Tania Maxwell,
Member for Northern Victoria
