Howard waters the crop

Friday 26 January 2007
Howard waters the crop with one eye on the global market

Greens NSW water spokesperson and Upper House MP Ian Cohen applauds the Prime Minister’s $30 billion water funding plan but is concerned that rhetoric does not guarantee environmental flows.

“Water efficiency is long overdue and with John Howard calling himself ‘a climate realist’ and admitting ‘the prospect of long-term climate change’, one can only hope that his economic priorities are subsumed by a long-term vision for sustainability.

“We need radical and permanent change if Australia is going to meet John Howard’s vision as a sustainable food producer for global markets.

“Propping up industries such as cotton and rice with big water allocations will mean that economic priorities will not guarantee an adequate allocation to the environment.

“The potential is there but so is the abuse. If we are having a nationally co-ordinated approach to water usage, it is important that eminent scientists have a degree of control that removes the decision from vote hungry politicians.

“Efficiencies are to be applauded and there is a sound argument for Federal oversight of a resource as important as water. However there must be no trade-offs between states. South-east Queensland is thirsty for northern NSW water. We need to ensure that water is not over-allocated to places like Cubbie Station to maintain unsustainable crops like cotton to the west.”

“The Prime Minister has not addressed the issue of returning environmental flows to the Murray River but focuses on water security based on irrigation infrastructure to pipe water to farms. This may be efficient for the agricultural sector but cannot be interpreted as a help to the environment. A healthy environment should be the starting point.

“It is unclear to me how Mr Howard will go about restoring water to the Great Artesian Basin. This water has taken millions of years accumulate. A ten-point plan is a start but great resourcefulness and imagination are also required.

"Premier Iemma’s acquiescence is either pre-election political expediency or an acknowledgement that NSW has failed on water reform."