Showing posts with label water wars. Show all posts
Showing posts with label water wars. Show all posts
Wednesday 30 January 2019
Murray-Darling Basin irrigator has cotton farm asset frozen under Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act - required to pay back $15.7 million
People living along the major rivers on the NSW Far North Coast, particularly those on the Clarence River, will remember that it was irrigators in southern Queensland as well as other areas within the Murray-Darling Basin who made repeated calls to dam and divert one of more of these coastal rivers to fill heir greedy maws with additional water.
The
Courier Mail,
25 January 2019, p.27:
Authorities have gone to
court to force an award-winning Queensland cotton farmer to pay $16 million to
the state’s Public Trustee after a “covert source” told them the accused
water fraudster had sold his farm for more than $100 million.
John Douglas Norman, 43,
a former Australian Cotton Farmer Of The Year, from Toobeah in southern
Queensland, has been charged with defrauding the Murray-Darling Basin water program
of $20 million.
The charges are before
the Brisbane Magistrates Court.
Last week the State
Government was granted an urgent court order, forcing Norman to pay $15.7
million to the state’s Public Trustee, after the police received a tip that his
company had sold its Queensland cotton and grain farms to a global corporate
giant.
Norman must pay the
$15.7 million once his deal with the $43 billion Canadian giant Manulife
Financial Corporation settles, a Supreme Court judge has ruled. The order was
made under the Criminal Proceeds Confiscation Act.
The mega-deal was due to
settle last week, court documents state. Until the $15.7 million is paid,
Norman’s share of the giant farms, west of Goondiwindi, will remain frozen by
the Supreme Court.
The remaining share of
the business is owned by his mother Aileen Joan Norman. She has not been
charged with any crimes and has not had her assets frozen.
The farms, spread over
18,000ha, are mostly irrigated and run along or close to the NSW-Queensland
border, the court heard. They are in “a core crop production region” and with
“significant water entitlements”.
The farms and a $2
million riverfront Southport mansion, owned by Norman’s wife Virginia, were
raided and searched by police during the probe, court documents state.
BACKGROUND
The Land, 30 August 2018:
Meanwhile in Queensland,
a major alleged fraud in the cotton industry was uncovered by police, with two
executives from Queensland's cotton group Norman Farming charged over an an
alleged $20 million fraud involving federal funds earmarked for Murray-Darling
water savings.
Norman Farming CEO John Norman,
43, and his chief financial officer Steve Evans, 53, were granted bail after
appearing in Brisbane Magistrates Court over the alleged fraud.
Police allege the
director of the company submitted fraudulent claims, including falsified
invoices related to six water-efficiency projects on a property near
Goondiwindi, called Healthy Headwater projects.
Police allege the fraud
occurred over seven years.
In NSW, the Natural
Resources Access Regulator (NRAR) has issued a number of charges in the north
and south-west of NSW for various alleged water offences.
The NRAR is the new
independent water regulator in NSW. It started operations on April 30, after an
outcry over alleged water deals in northern NSW exposed by the ABC's Four
Corners program….
NRAR said it was
pursuing the following cases:
● A Moree company has
been charged with water theft offences. It is alleged the company, involved in
irrigation, took water from a river while metering equipment was not working,
an offence against section 91I(2) of the Water Management Act 2000. It is
further alleged they constructed and used a channel to convey water without
approval.
● A Carinda man has been
charged with using a channel to convey water without approval, an offence
against s91B of the Water Management Act 2000.
● Two men have been
charged with water theft offences on properties in Walgett and Mallowa.
● A 35-year-old man from
Carinda in Northern NSW alleged he provided false and misleading information to
water investigators.
● Two men have been
charged after they allegedly carried out controlled activities on the Murray
River near Corowa.
ABC News, 13 February 2018:
The Murray Darling Basin
Authority (MDBA) is powerless to prevent upstream farmers harvesting overland
floodwaters desperately needed to flow through the river system for the benefit
of all users, the authority's head has admitted.
It comes as details
emerge of massive earthworks built to enable upstream farmers to carry out
"floodplain harvesting"…..
Last week, MDBA head
Phillip Glyde travelled to Mr Lamey's farm to see first hand what was
happening.
"I've learnt a
lot," Mr Glyde told 7.30.
"For people like
the Lameys, it's very hard to negotiate through and find what's the best way to
make sure the problems they're experiencing don't occur."
Although he admitted
floodplain harvesting was a serious issue, he acknowledged there was nothing
the authority could do in relation to the approval and regulation of irrigation
earthworks.
"There's
overlapping responsibilities: local, state, different departments," he
said.
"Then you've got
the Commonwealth, then you've got the Murray Darling Basin Plan."
On Wednesday, the Senate
decides whether to pass a proposed reduction in the amount of water Queensland
irrigators give back to the ailing Murray Darling River system.
"We don't want the
irrigators to be keeping even more water, we want the banks pulled down in
Queensland," Mr Lamey said.
"We want the river
to run like it should."
Labels:
local courts,
Murray-Darling Basin,
rivers,
Supreme Court,
water wars
Saturday 19 January 2019
Tweets of the Week
Yep, they stopped the boats in Tilpa.#MurrayDarlingBasin #auspol #watertheft #fishKill pic.twitter.com/YQ2vmwwDt5— River Country (@RiverCountryFoE) January 18, 2019
Believe it or not, when the rivers full the need a levee bank at the top of this ramp.— River Country (@RiverCountryFoE) January 18, 2019
Tilda, NSW#FishKill #MurrayDarlingBasin pic.twitter.com/5dSboH3WyN
Friday 18 January 2019
State of Play: Australian Water Wars in 2019
Time lapse images of part of the Lake Menindee system in the Murray Darling Basin drying up through mismanagement, 2016 to 2018.Lake Menindee in 43 images pic.twitter.com/bHCn06EXfN— Chris Rawlins 🚙 (@ChrisBH011) January 16, 2019
It won't be long before multiple talking heads from the Liberal and National parties will be penning opinion pieces in national newspapers and popping up as guests on radio or television accusing those who are acutely concerned, about water sustainability and the plight of the Murray-Darling Basin, of bashing the poor hardworking farmer and telling us that all irrigators are ethical individuals who are only trying to feed the nation.
Now that may be true of some, it probably isn't true of many and it is definitely not true of all irrigators.
The amount of water being taken from Murray-Darling Basin rivers is eye watering.
According to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA); Irrigated agriculture in the Basin consumes about 60% of Australia’s available water.1
Again according to the MDBA, by 2017-18 this 60% was being harvested by only 9,200 irrigated agricultural businesses.
In 2017 the National Water Account stated that total surface water and groundwater entitlements in the Basin equalled 19,374 gigalitres.
In 2017 the National Water Account stated that total surface water and groundwater entitlements in the Basin equalled 19,374 gigalitres.
The whole Murray-Darling Basin receives just 6.1 per cent of Australia’s distribution of water run-off and the MDBA admits that approximately 42% of this surface water run-off is diverted from Basin river systems primarily by irrigators.
Professor Sheldon of the Australian Rivers Institute at Griffith University states that more than 50% of average water inflows into the Murray and Darling rivers are extracted for irrigation.
Overall, the Murray-Darling Basin contains 77,000 km of rivers, with flows said to total some 35,000 gigalitres on average.2 A figure which now appears unreliable.
At the beginning of the 2017–18 water year, the total volume of held water for the environment was nominally about 2,871 gigalitres (in long-term available water terms).3
Professor Sheldon of the Australian Rivers Institute at Griffith University states that more than 50% of average water inflows into the Murray and Darling rivers are extracted for irrigation.
Overall, the Murray-Darling Basin contains 77,000 km of rivers, with flows said to total some 35,000 gigalitres on average.2 A figure which now appears unreliable.
At the beginning of the 2017–18 water year, the total volume of held water for the environment was nominally about 2,871 gigalitres (in long-term available water terms).3
Science has been telling the Federal Government and the governments of Qld, NSW, Vic and SA that Murray-Darling Basin rivers cannot sustain the rates of water extraction they have been experiencing since the second half of last century and more water needs to be returned to the rivers as environmental flows.4
Government does not appear to be listening. Probably because implementing an effective response to years of mismanagement of Basin water resources would mean reducing the over allocation of water rights by commencing a policy of permanently buying back at least 7,000 gigalitres of water entitlements from irrigators and reducing the annual amount of water their remaining water entitlements represent.
Here are just three examples of excessive water consumption in the face of declining national water security.
WEBSTER
Webster Ltd (WBA):
“Webster owns a diverse portfolio of
over 200,000 megalitres of water entitlements, stretching from southern
Queensland, through New South Wales to northern Victoria and Tasmania. It’s
also fundamental to our strategy of streaming water to areas where we can
generate greatest return for each megalitre of water applied….. we are
able to extract further value by exploiting opportunities in water markets. A
significant component of this entitlement holding resulted from the acquisition
of Kooba along the Murrumbidgee and the subsequent acquisitions of Tandou and
Bengerang with significant water entitlements in the Murray Darling Basin. Our
portfolio is a complementary mix of high and general security water with
supplementary and groundwater entitlements. This scale, diversity and surety of
our water holdings underpins our competitive advantage…”
Webster states
that its “primary crop focus is on cotton, using technology and expertise to
maximise yield and water efficiency, with capability to produce over 200,000
bales of cotton annually”.
Chris Corrigan is the Chairman Webster Ltd and Joseph Corrigan is the Alternate for Chris Corrigan.
Corrigan
(formerly Managing Director of Patricks
Corporation Ltd who colluded with the Howard Government's attempt to break a union) became chairman of the ASX listed agribusiness in March
2016, soon after it had completed a major takeover. In that play, Webster bought
land and water company Tandou, assembling the nation’s top private water rights
portfolio, according to
Irrigation Australia.
Webster Ltd landholdings include 40,000 irrigable hectares as well as extensive grazing farmland.
Webster Ltd landholdings include 40,000 irrigable hectares as well as extensive grazing farmland.
Webster
holds its most of its water rights in perpetuity. As
at 30 September 2018 the company listed the value of its water rights as $161.9
million.
In 2017 the company sold the water rights at its Tandou property to the Turnbull Government for $78 million which was reportedly almost twice the recommended value of the water.
Current WBA share price is in the vicinity of $1.565. In 2018 the company listed its assets value as $760.44
million. Combined salary & fees received by Webster directors exceeded
$1.49 million in that year.
Its substantial
shareholders in 2017-2018 were: AFF
Properties No 1 Pty Ltd ATF The AFF Operations Trust (14.41%), Verolot Limited (8.92%), Mr Peter Robin Joy (8.43%), Belfort Investment Advisors Limited
(5.89%) and Mr Bevan David Cushing as
trustee of the KD Cushing Family Trust (5.60%).
CUBBIE
Cubbie
Station is an
aggregate of three properties owned by CS
Agriculture Pty Ltd, which in turn is 20% owned by RF CSAG & 80% Chinese-owned through Shandong Ruyi Technology
Group Co.5
Cubbie Station is 93,000
ha in size and sources its water from the from
the Condamine and Balonne river systems in the upper reaches of the
Murray-Darling Basin.
Cubbie has annual water entitlements of 460,000 megalitres. In addition it holds back in off-river storage up to 45,000 megalitres of surface water from the flood plain.
Its water storage area covers 12,000ha configured in a cell arrangements with an estimated capacity of 540,000 megalitres. It is reportedly the largest irrigation property in the Southern Hemisphere.
Cubbie has annual water entitlements of 460,000 megalitres. In addition it holds back in off-river storage up to 45,000 megalitres of surface water from the flood plain.
Its water storage area covers 12,000ha configured in a cell arrangements with an estimated capacity of 540,000 megalitres. It is reportedly the largest irrigation property in the Southern Hemisphere.
The company’s
water storage dams are said to stretch for more than 28 kilometres along the
Culgoa River.
Cubbie's principal crop appears to be cotton.6
Cubbie's principal crop appears to be cotton.6
In 2017 the Australian Taxation Office listed the company’s total annual income as $161,911,344.
The value of the Cubbie Station aggregate is
est. $350 million.
NORMAN FARMING
Norman
Farming Trust trading as Norman Farming has a combined land area of over 18,000 ha across two
properties in the Macintyre River delta of the Border Rivers region.
The company has an entitlement of 76,000
megalitres of annual water diversion capable of being pumped at 7,000
megalitres take-per-day, with the potential for 500 megalitres per day of
additional water harvesting from rainfall/runoff without an annual limit. An est.1,218ha are used for water
storage.
Norman Farming's principal crop is cotton.
Norman Farming's principal crop is cotton.
Estimated
value of the company is $100 million.
The owner is currently charged with defrauding
the Australian Government of $20 million in Murray-Darling Basin water funding.
Webster, Cubbie and Norman Farming between them have annual water entitlements which exceed the volume of water in Sydney Harbour.
Webster, Cubbie and Norman Farming between them have annual water entitlements which exceed the volume of water in Sydney Harbour.
Footnotes
1. MDBA, Water
markets and trade:
5. The volume of water entitlements owned by businesses with some level of foreign ownership was 1.9 million megalitres at 30 June 2016 or 12.5% of the total volume of water entitlements for agricultural purposes in Australia. Of the water entitlements with some level of foreign ownership, the majority (1.6 million megalitres or 83%) was held by businesses that were more than 50% foreign owned. [Australian Bureau of Statistics, 7127.0 - Agricultural Land and Water Ownership, 2015-16]
Water
in the Murray–Darling Basin can be bought and sold, either permanently or
temporarily.
This
water is traded on markets – within catchments, between catchments (where
possible) or along river systems. This form of trading allows water users to
buy and sell water in response to their individual needs. Water trading has
become a vital business tool for many irrigators.
The
majority of water traded in the Murray–Darling Basin is surface water, however
some groundwater also changes hands.
Irrigated
agriculture in the Basin consumes about 60% of Australia’s available water….
There
are more than 150 classes of water entitlement in the Basin….
Water
trading in the Basin is worth about $2 billion annually.
The
New South Wales, Queensland, South Australian and Victorian governments are
primarily responsible for managing water markets, and each state has its own
process and rules for allocating water.
Irrigation
infrastructure operators create and maintain trading rules within their
networks.
In November 2018 in the NSW section of the Murray-Darling
Basin est. 2,988 megalitres of water was transferred between trading parties.
2. For comparison Sydney Harbour is estimated to hold 500 gigalitres.1 giglitre of water equals 1,000 megalitre.
3. Water theft appears to be an ongoing issue. In 2018 one NSW irrigator pleading guilty to the theft potentially involving billions of litres at a Mungindi property near the NSW-Queensland border, while another at Brewarrina has been charged with taking water when the flow conditions did not permit it, and breaching licence and approval conditions.
4. Initially a scientific assessment by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority identified that 6,000-7,000 GL per year would be required to return the environmental assets of the Murray-Darling Basin to sustainable ecological health. This was reduced by almost half to 3,000-4,000 GL per year in the Basin Guide. Eventually, the Australian Government considered 2,800 GL, even lower than the minimum proposed, was a reasonable target. This was further reduced to 2,750 GL before the Queensland Government agreed to sign up to the Basin Plan, a reduction from the Northern Basin. Reduction of the target by another 70 GL represents a further significant reduction in environmental flows which will exacerbate environmental decline. [Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW, submission]
2. For comparison Sydney Harbour is estimated to hold 500 gigalitres.1 giglitre of water equals 1,000 megalitre.
3. Water theft appears to be an ongoing issue. In 2018 one NSW irrigator pleading guilty to the theft potentially involving billions of litres at a Mungindi property near the NSW-Queensland border, while another at Brewarrina has been charged with taking water when the flow conditions did not permit it, and breaching licence and approval conditions.
4. Initially a scientific assessment by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority identified that 6,000-7,000 GL per year would be required to return the environmental assets of the Murray-Darling Basin to sustainable ecological health. This was reduced by almost half to 3,000-4,000 GL per year in the Basin Guide. Eventually, the Australian Government considered 2,800 GL, even lower than the minimum proposed, was a reasonable target. This was further reduced to 2,750 GL before the Queensland Government agreed to sign up to the Basin Plan, a reduction from the Northern Basin. Reduction of the target by another 70 GL represents a further significant reduction in environmental flows which will exacerbate environmental decline. [Professor Richard Kingsford, Director of the Centre for Ecosystem Science, UNSW, submission]
In
2018, the Turnbull government won support from Labor to amend the amount of
environmental water allocated to the system, while the Greens and some senators
were opposed. The amendments cut 605 billion litres a year that were allocated
from the southern basin's environmental water flows, and 70 billion litres a
year from the northern basin's flows. [ABC
News, 17 January 2019]
5. The volume of water entitlements owned by businesses with some level of foreign ownership was 1.9 million megalitres at 30 June 2016 or 12.5% of the total volume of water entitlements for agricultural purposes in Australia. Of the water entitlements with some level of foreign ownership, the majority (1.6 million megalitres or 83%) was held by businesses that were more than 50% foreign owned. [Australian Bureau of Statistics, 7127.0 - Agricultural Land and Water Ownership, 2015-16]
In
2016 in New South Wales in 847,250 megalitres of water entitlements were 100%
foreign owned and in Queensland 744,957 megalitres were totally foreign owned.
6. According to the Dept of Agriculture and Water Resources ABARES, the Murray–Darling Basin accounts for around 91 per cent of Australia’s total cotton farms and cotton area. It is estimated that the total area in the Basin under cotton production is 490,000 hectares.If all of this land was planted for cotton in a given year then it is likely that the crops would require somewhere between 2.19 million to 3.82 million megalitres of water.
Labels:
Murray-Darling Basin,
water wars
Thursday 3 January 2019
Murray-Darling Basin Plan: a $13 billion fraud on the environment
Some home truth about the current Murray-Darling Basin Plan to remember as we enter into the morass of competeing claims in NSW State and Australian Federal election campaigns in the first half of this year....
IN THE MATTER OF THE
MURRAY-DARLING BASIN ROYAL COMMISSION, Adelaide South Australia, 23 October 2018:
MR R. BEASLEY SC, Senior
Counsel Assisting:
….Commissioner, the
Water Act and the Basin Plan have been hailed as ground-breaking reform. They
are. What this Commission has learnt, however, from the evidence it has
gathered, and from the witnesses that have informed us, is that it’s one thing
to enact transformative legislation like the Water Act and the Basin Plan, it’s
quite another thing to faithfully implement it. Sadly, the implementation of
the Basin Plan at crucial times has been characterised by a lack of attention
to the requirements of the Water Act and a near total lack of transparency in
an important sense.
Those matters have had,
and continue to have, a negative impact on the environment and probably the
economies of all the Basin Plan states but the state that will suffer the most
is the state at the end of the system, South Australia. The Water Act was a
giant national compromise. At its heart was a recognition that all of the Basin
states – Queensland, NSW, Victoria and South Australia – were taking too much
water from the system and had been for a long time. That, as a matter of
statutory fact in the Water Act, and as a matter of reality, has led to serious
degradation of the environment of the Basin. The Millennium Drought of 2000s
underscored the fact that, if nothing was done, over-allocation of the water
entitlements in the Basin would inevitably and quickly lead to irreversible
damage to the Basin environment.
The Water Act was a
response to that. It was the statutory means by which the process of
restoration and protection of environmental assets would begin. I say the Water
Act was a compromise because the Act contemplates that water will be taken from
our rivers and used consumptively for irrigation, the growing of crops and
permanent plants. Of course, also for human water needs. But it sets a limit.
That limit is that no more water can be taken beyond the point where key areas
of the environment and its ecosystems might be damaged. In an environment
that’s already degraded, that means the Water Act requires the environment to
have both enough water to restore degraded wetlands and the like and also, of
course, to maintain them.
That’s not just the
right thing to do. It’s what Australia’s international obligations require.
That task, setting a limit on the extraction of water, is to be based on the
best available science. Not guided by the best science, not informed by the
best science but based on the best available science. It also has to be
achieved by taking into account the well-known principles of ecologically
sustainable development. What the Commission has learnt from the evidence presented
to it is that the implementation of the Basin Plan, at crucial stages, has not
been based on the best available science. Further, ecologically sustainable
development has either been ignored or, in some cases, in relation to supply
measures, actually inverted.
I want to read to you a peer review of the
Guide to the Basin Plan from some international scientists in 2010 because it
demonstrates that they were well aware, even back then, of what was actually
going on in the early stages of drafting the Basin Plan. This is a peer review
report by Professor Gene Likens of the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies, Mr
Per Bertilsson of the Stockholm International Water Institute, Professor Asit
Biswas from the Third World Centre for Water Management and Professor John
Briscoe, Gordon McKay Professor from Harvard University. What they said was
this, in reviewing the Basin Plan, at page 34 of what became exhibit RCE38:
It is a fundamental tenet of good
governance that scientists produce facts and the government decides on values
and makes choices. We are concerned that scientists in the Murray-Darling Basin
Authority, who are working to develop the facts, may feel they are expected to
trim those so that the sustainable diversion limit will be one that is politically
acceptable. We strongly believe that this is not only inconsistent with the
basic tenets of good governance but that it is not consistent with the letter
of the Water Act. We equally strongly believe that government needs to make the
necessary trade-offs and value judgments and need to be explicit about these,
assume responsibility and make the rationale behind these judgments transparent
to the public.
If all the MDBA had been
done in the past eight years since that review was written is “trim the facts”,
that would be bad enough. But it’s worse than that. The implementation of the
Basin Plan has been marred by maladministration. By that I mean mismanagement
by those in charge of the task in the Basin Authority, its executives and its
board, and the consequent mismanagement of huge amounts of public funds. The
responsibility for that maladministration and mismanagement falls on both past
and current executives of the MDBA and its board. Again, while the whole of the
Basin environment has and will continue to suffer as a result of this, the
state whose environment will suffer the most is South Australia.
The principal task of
those implementing the Plan is to set the Basin-wide sustainable diversion
limit. How much water can be taken from the rivers before the environment
suffers? You’ve heard evidence that has been unchallenged that this task was
infected by deception, secrecy and is the political fix. The modelling it has
been said to have been based on is still not available seven years later. The
recent adjustment of the sustainable diversion limit by raising it by 605
gigalitres, on the evidence you’ve heard, is best described as a fraud on the
environment. That’s a phrase I used in opening. It was justified then. It’s
re-enforced by the evidence you’ve heard subsequently. The so-called 450
gigalitres of upwater, the water that the then South Australian Government
fought for, for this State’s environment, is highly unlikely to ever eventuate.
The constraints to the system are just one major problem in the delivery of
that water.
Like all aspects of the
implementation of the Basin Plan, efficiency measures or infrastructure
projects that form the basis of how the 450 gigalitres of water is to be attained,
and which are funded by public money, lack any reasonable form of transparency
and, as the Productivity Commission recently, and witnesses to this Commission,
have noted, are hugely more expensive and less reliable than purchasing water
entitlements. I will discuss this in detail but I will give you one quote from
an expert who can talk with real authority about the extra 450 gigalitres
proposed for South Australia under the Basin Plan. That’s the former
Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, David Papps. In his evidence to you
said:
I would
bet my house that South Australia is not getting that water.
Mr Papps’ prediction
seems safe when one considers the proposed amendments to the Basin Plan by the
governments of NSW and Victoria concerning the 450 gigalitres that I will come
to shortly. Everything that I have just said to you is based on the views of
eminent scientists and other people who have given evidence and lodged
submissions. However, neither the Commonwealth Department of Agriculture and
Water, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, or any Commonwealth government
agency has provided any answer to anything I have just said or to the evidence
before the Commission that I will refer to shortly. They have no answer. The
submissions provided to you very recently by the Murray-Darling Basin
Authority, and the DAWR, Department of Agriculture and Water Resources,
demonstrate, as did their unwillingness to give evidence, culminating in
proceedings to the High Court, that they do not have any answer.
The MDBA, you will
recall, were even too busy to meet you. The States also have no answer, as
demonstrated in their somewhat thin submissions to you, with the exception of
the South Australian Government. When I say the MDBA has no answer to the
expert evidence given in this Commission, I should emphasise also that it
clearly has no answer to the maladministration and unlawfulness of its
implementation of the Basin Plan. It is nevertheless a great pity that relevant
persons from the Basin Authority, and other Commonwealth agencies, were not
required to give answers to you under oath concerning the scientific evidence
the Commission gathered.
The opportunity may have
been there had the High Court decided those proceedings in your favour. I’m not
going to speculate on what the High Court would have done but, regrettably, the
South Australian Government chose not to extend your Commission in order to
provide you with the opportunity that may have been available to you to
question those relevant people. You made it clear to the South Australian
Government that was your strong preference. You advised them that the
Commission had potential witnesses that wanted to give important evidence,
evidence relevant to the South Australian environment, but only if they were
compelled by summons. In other words, they were too scared to talk about the
implementation of the Basin Plan without the force of a summons. Why the
Commission was not extended to explore these crucial matters is something upon
which you can draw inferences as you see fit. I will only say that it’s a great
opportunity lost……
Wednesday 2 January 2019
Water theft within the Murray Darling Basin continues
— Chris Rawlins 🚙 (@ChrisBH011) December 20, 2018
Labels:
Murray-Darling Basin,
water wars
Sunday 23 December 2018
Castillo Copper Limited operations suspended on exploration leases in the Clarence Valley NSW
Clarence Environment Centre brings welcome news as 2018 ends.
Castillo Copper Limited operations at Cangai, in the Mann River Catchment, Clarence Valley NSW have been suspended on the grouns that there is: a lack of sediment and erosion controls; poor management of drill cuttings/waste materials; clearing and excavation works undertaken outside of approved limits; the drilling of five bore holes without approval; and a failure to progressively rehabilitate in approved time frames.
Castillo Copper Limited Ope... by on Scribd
https://www.scribd.com/document/396200281/Castillo-Copper-Limited-Operations-Suspended-at-Cangai-NSW-21-December-2018
Labels:
Clarence Valley,
environmental vandalism,
mining,
water wars
Friday 23 November 2018
Water Wars 2018: water mining of the Alstonville aquifer suspended pending government review
BLOCKADE:
Around 100 people were there for the 'Stop water mining rally in Uki' on
Saturday 27 October, where residents stopped water trucks in the main street. Dave
Norris/The Northern Star
Echo
NetDaily, 20
November 2018:
Regional water minister
Niall Blair has requested an independent review into the impacts of the bottled
water industry on groundwater sources in the Northern Rivers.
And local councils have
been advised to suspend approving any new applications for water mining until
the report is complete in mid 2019.
The NSW chief scientist
& engineer will provide advice on the sustainable groundwater extraction
limits in the region, as well as advice on whether the current or proposed
groundwater monitoring bores are sufficient.
Minister Blair said the
NSW Government ‘recognises the pivotal role that water plays in regional
prosperity and long-term growth of communities’.
‘Local community members
and community leaders have made representations to me on behalf of their constituents
and we are taking action,’ he said.
‘I have asked the chief
scientist & engineer to investigate the sustainability of groundwater
extraction in the Northern Rivers for bottling purposes.
‘Water is a finite
resource and we are completing this review to make sure that water remains
available into the future in the Northern Rivers catchment for all purposes
including stock and domestic users and for groundwater dependent ecosystems,’
Mr Blair said.
Labels:
Northern Rivers,
people power,
water wars,
water mining
Wednesday 10 October 2018
Community unhappy about Tweed Shire Council water mining consent at Rowland Creek
Image: Onthehouse |
Echo NetDaily, 6 October 2018:
Around 100 protestors
made their point before council ignored them by voting 4–3, to reject Mayor
Katie Milne’s rescission motion in regards to the September vote, where
the majority of Tweed Shire councillors gave the thumbs up to a water mining operation
at Rowlands Creek.
Councillor Katie Milne
moved that a DA for a bulk loading/delivery of extracted water and roadworks at
Rowlands Creek Road be deferred for several reasons including that NSW Water’s
response to the pumping study was a brief email, not a formal review.
She asked that council
seek additional consideration and hydrological testing from the applicant as
outlined in a report by Professor Peter Cook (Potential Impact of Groundwater
Pumping on Rowlands Creek) and that a suitably qualified university review the
applicant’s report and subsequent response as well as NSW Water’s response and
Professor Cook’s reports.
The motion also argued
that the costings of road damage (referred to in the report but not provided)
be publicly released; that the Rowlands Creek / Kyogle Roads intersection
problem (which has been acknowledged and considered by the applicant’s traffic
engineers but remains unresolved) should be referred to an independent expert
for an opinion on the best practice approach; that council refer the problem of
the Rowlands Creek Road / Mitchell Street intersection to the same independent
expert for opinion on a best practice solution; and, that Council staff report
whether they have investigated previously claimed discrepancies in the road
width on the straight close to Uki – if not, to do so and if the Bitzios report
is incorrect propose appropriate corrective measures.
The motion also asked
that council seek independent legal advice on whether its public interest
assessment meets Council and other legal obligations.
The 4–3 vote went Crs
Cherry, Cooper and Milne for the rescission, and Cs Byrne, Polglase, Allsop and
Owen against.
Cr Milne told Echonetdaily that
this is not the end of the issue as far as she and council are concerned. ‘The
developer has to gain final sign-off from councillors that the roadworks
required are properly completed before he can commence operations,’ said Ms
Milne.
‘There is another
application in the system for Dungay, the court judgement for the Urliup
expansion, and numerous applications for amendments required to rectify
non-compliances of other existing operators as well as whatever else comes in.’
The mayor added that
some of her greatest concerns include the safety of local residents, the impact
on Rowlands Creek, the viability of the State Significant Farmlands adjacent,
and the viability of locals’ stock and domestic water bores as well as the
enormous costs expected for residents for these ongoing road repairs.
The Tweed Water Alliance
submitted a hydrology report which suggested the water mining should not go
ahead yet council still voted to go ahead. Ms Milne says the report was
unequivocal and absolutely convincing. ‘It was done by one of the world’s
leading groundwater scientists. There are always councillors who put
development before the community. Unfortunately the Labor councillor
joined them this time.
‘This is an issue that
affects the whole community across the Shire. Apart from the water
security issues, I’m sure our residents and pensioners would not be keen on
subsidising ongoing road damage from these heavy trucks.’
Tweed Water Alliance’s Facebook page suggests that direct community action is now being
contemplated.
Labels:
people power,
Tweed Shire Council,
water wars
Monday 8 October 2018
Whitehaven Coal’s Vickery mine extension community consultation has farmers up in arms
Whitehaven Coal Vickery Forest coal mining operation, 2018 |
Maules Creek section of coal mining operation, 2018 |
Whitehaven Coal Limited is seeking
planning permission to extend its existing mining infrastructure footprint approx. 22kms north of Gunnedah in
north-west NSW, by adding a coal processing hub with an on site coal
handling and preparation plant (CHPP), train load-out facility and rail spur
line to service its open cut mines at Tarrawonga, Rocglen and Werris Creek.
Quite
naturally local rural communities are concerned…….
The
Northern Daily Leader,
5 October 2018:
The Greens have
condemned NSW Planning Minister Anthony Roberts and called his decision to
ignore the plea of drought-stricken farmers “the height of arrogance”.
The spraying follows
comments Mr Roberts made to The Leader yesterday, where he referred
to the 4000-page Vickery coal mine extension report as a
“relatively short document”, as he knocked back the request of farmers for
more time to read the submission.
Farmers say they are struggling to find time to read and understand the
massive document, let alone write a response to it, when they are hand
feeding cattle.
Greens resource
spokesman Jeremy Buckingham wrote to Mr Roberts in September, seeking to extend
the public consultation time from 42 days to 90 days, however is yet to receive
a response.
“Minister Anthony
Roberts has displayed the height of arrogance in ignoring local farmers and
communities and failing to give them a fair chance of responding to a 4000-page
document on Vickery coal mine,” Mr Buckingham said.
“Minister Roberts has
failed to acknowledge that many local folks are flat out keeping their
livestock and farms alive in drought conditions.
“Local farmers and
community members have asked for an reasonable extension of time to read
thousands of pages of documents and make a considered response, but the
Minister won’t listen.
“What does the NSW
Government have to hide on this Vickery coal mine proposal?”...
Labels:
Berejiklian Government,
Bogabri,
coal,
consultation,
farming,
Gunnedah,
mining,
sustainable food,
water wars
Sunday 30 September 2018
Adani Group has Morrison, Price, Littleproud & Taylor wrapped around its little finger
Since September 2013 the Australian Liberal-Nationals Coalition Government has been a rolling national disaster.
This latest episode appears to have its roots in the hard right's commitment to dismantle environmental protections.
Especially replacing Labor's "water trigger" amendment to the ENVIRONMENT PROTECTION AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION ACT 1999 with a band-aid which fooled no-one.
ABC
News, 25
September 2018:
A farmer has been denied
access to a river system Adani plans on drawing 12.5 billion litres of water
from in what activists are calling a "double standard", documents
obtained under freedom of information laws show.
The mining giant plans
to take 12.5 billion litres of water from the Suttor River every year, nearly
as much as all local farmers combined.
Despite this amount, the
documents show at least one irrigator had their application for a water licence
rejected in 2011, leading activists to claim farmers were assessed more harshly
than Adani.
The documents also show
the modelling used by the company to predict the impacts of the water usage
ignored the past 14 years of rainfall data and, despite planning to take water
until 2077, it did not take into account the impacts of climate change.
The revelations came a
week after the Federal Government decided to assess the environmental
impacts of Adani's water take without a full environmental impact statement.
"Altogether, this
underscores how poor the decision was last week to allow 12.5 billion litres to
be taken without assessment," Carmel Flint from anti-mining group Lock The
Gate Alliance said. The group obtained the documents under Queensland's Right
To Information laws.....
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