Wednesday, 20 October 2010
Windsor confirms he's an environmental & economic eejit
Did he not take any notice of evidence given at the 2007 Australian Senate inquiry which looked at the Clarence River?
Has he not noticed that the Snowy River is seriously f**ked?
This is the Member for New England and chair of the latest parliamentary water inquiry, Tony Windsor, yesterday:
FEDERAL independent Member for New England Tony Windsor says diverting water from the Clarence River is an option to revive the Murray Darling basin.
Mr Windsor, whose electorate shares a border with Page, said diversion of east coast rivers, including the Clarence, would be looked at by a parliamentary inquiry, of which he was a member, into the impact of Murray Darling Basin Plan.
“Diverting water into the Murray Darling system to avert the effects of climate change is a possibility,” he said.
“But where it comes from is an issue I don't want to get into debate about right now. There are a lot of options out there to be looked at yet.”
Mr Windsor, who previously flagged the idea of diverting the Clarence in 2007, said sending water west was possible.
“It's technically possible to bring eastern flowing water to the west as we have done with the snowy mountains scheme,” he said.
Tuesday, 19 October 2010
Saffin tells Parliament 'Not a drop' from the Clarence River
Bravo to Federal Labor’s Janelle Saffin who really is in tune with her electorate in this 18 October 2010 media release.
Saffin tells Parliament -- ‘Not a drop’
PAGE MP Janelle Saffin made it clear on the first day of the Parliamentary session that she would be vigilant on protecting the Clarence River against water raiders.
Ms Saffin today told Parliament that a lot of people are talking about wanting to get their hands on water from the Clarence River.
But she said the message from the local community in response to those looking at river diversion under the Murray-Darling Basin plan is this – “Not a drop”.
“Engineering-wise, we can do anything -- we can do marvels -- but in terms of the environment and also the viability of the Clarence, it would be a disaster.
“The catchment area of the Clarence River falls within 100 kilometres of the New South Wales coastal strip.
“Our industries are fishing -- we have a huge commercial fishing industry -- and agriculture, and the economy is heavily underpinned by that commercial fishing.
“There is also forestry and tourism. It is all worth a lot to us.
“This debate is one of those debates that come up ever now and then.”
Ms Saffin said that right across her electorate thousands of cars display the ‘not a drop’ bumper stickers, part of a Daily Examiner campaign against Coalition water policy in 2007.
Following her statement in the House, Ms Saffin said she did not want to alarm people but she wanted to be up front on the first sitting day on this important issue.
“I also want to thank the local people who sent me good information on the issue this morning,” Ms Saffin said.
“The idea of diverting the Clarence River inland won’t stand up to closer public scrutiny.”
Leave river to flow free says local media
Click on image to enlarge
Huh, kids today!
taylorrtay Oh dear, my mother has a Twitter account now... that's the moment when you know this social network is heading downhill #sorrymum via Chromed Bird
Monday, 18 October 2010
What is in Armidale's drinking water?
Is anyone out there?
Looks suspiciously like everyone along the Murray-Darling rivers is having too much fun burning books and loudly swearing for the benefit of cameras to actually go online and give an opinion.
Last time I clicked onto the Murray Darling Basin Authority Basin Plan online forum page there were only a handful of comments and this was one example:
tony grose
17-10-2010 1:05 PM | |
Pipe Line Out of left feild here but would it be viable to build a pipe line to feed water into the basin. We seem to be able to spend millions and millions of dollars on reports and the likes why dont we just bite the bullet and start a massive task like this. The government wants to stimulate the economy emagine how much work this would create. I see that the swiss have just completed the longest tunnel under the elpes and it has taken 14 years for just that part of it, that to me is long term vision. We have a massive water source in the north and north west so maybe we need to try and tap into that and then all Australians will benefit. Tony |
Abbott gave a reshuffle party and nobody came
Surely this14 September 2010 media release would have to heralded one of the quietest reshuffles in Coalition history:
The reshaped Coalition frontbench that I announce today is a strong and experienced team that will hold a weak Government to account. The new Shadow Ministry is a team with deep connections to the community, ensuring that we will continue to put forward practical policies that help Australian families get ahead.
There was little mention of this change to Opposition Leader Tony Abbott's team of shadow spokespeople, but quite a few media observations on his attempt to censor video and photographs (below) and his ill-advised interview with Alan Jones.
Leaving one thankful that this man is not the Australian Prime Minister.