However this Royal Commission did not convene until after the March 2018 South
Australian general election at which time a Liberal Government was in power.
This same Liberal Government headed by SA Premier and Liberal MP for Dunstan Steven Marshall is now trying to come to the aid of the beleaguered Berejiklian and Morrison governments (facing their own elections in March and May 2019) by attempting to make Royal Commission correspondence, hearing transcripts
and final report fade from view as soon as possible.
This move is not going down well with the Royal Commission.......
Murray-Darling
Basin Royal Commission Report update
18 January 2019
The Murray-Darling Basin
Royal Commission report is being finalised to deliver to the South Australian
Governor by 1 February, 2019.
There has been an
exchange between the Commissioner, Bret Walker SC, and the Attorney-General’s
Department (AGD) in relation to the public release of the report.
The AGD indicated on 17
January 2019 that the Commissioner’s report will be made available on the
website for the Department for Environment and Water. The Commission has also
been advised that the Commission’s website (containing transcripts of hearings,
Commission exhibits, and other documents) will remain “live” until 30 March
2019, following which an archived copy of the website will be held by the
National Library.
By way of response dated
18 January 2019, the Commissioner:
ADVISED that the report
should be released immediately after delivery to the Governor as the “public
interest demands it”;
CALLED for the
Commission’s website to remain available to the public for a year after release
of the report to provide key background information and permit full
understanding of the Commission’s report, and
ADVISED he would be
willing to accept a limited extension of time for the Commission to consider
and report on the recent issues concerning fish kills in the Lower Darling
River.
The Commissioner said
that “the public expenditure on the Basin Plan (and this Commission) is such
that the only legitimate expectation is that my findings, conclusions,
recommendations and the reasons for them should all be available to be read,
considered and criticised, once I have delivered the report ... The national
implications of the report’s subject matter are also a reason for the report to
be made available for consideration and criticism without delay”.
The relevant
correspondence is attached.
Level 9 East, 50
Grenfell Street, Adelaide SA 5000
For more information
please contact:
GPO
Box 1445, Adelaide SA 5001
Catherine
Hockley Email: mdbroyalcommission@mdbrc.sa.gov.au
Media/Communications
Adviser Telephone: 8207 1483
Email:
Catherine.hockley@mdbrc.sa.gov.au Toll free: (from landlines) 1800 842 817
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
See the
correspondence here
South Australian
Attorney-General Vickie Chapman has responded to the Commissioner's letter. See
the correspondence here
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