State Member for Shepparton Jeanette Powell says the Brumby Government is ignoring scientific evidence indicating that the health of rivers in Victoria’s north are rapidly declining.
Mrs Powell said Premier Brumby was ignoring the plight of the Murray Darling Basin because if the Premier acknowledged the problem, he would have to admit the deep flaws in his governments plan to pipe water from the Goulburn region to supply Melbourne.
“The Murray Darling Basin Commission’s Sustainable Rivers Audit, released recently, paints a dire picture of the health of the Goulburn River,” Mrs Powell said.
”The report found that of the 23 rivers in the basin, the Goulburn River is in the worst condition. This audit strengthens the case to stop the north-south pipeline.”
“Across the entire Murray Darling Basin, the Murrumbidgee is the only other river that rates as poorly as the Goulburn.”
In Parliament on June 24 the Leader of The Nationals, Peter Ryan, asked the Premier how could he possibly justify taking water out of this drought-stricken region and pumping it across the Divide for use on Melbourne's gardens.
“The Premier’s disappointing response avoided the issue completely and instead rolled out his usual rhetoric about ‘creating new water’ and support for the north-south pipeline,” Mrs Powell said.
A report by the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology that was released on the weekend by the Federal government advised that drought will occur twice as often, rainfall will decline and Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania are tipped to dry out most rapidly.
“If the Premier had any concern for the health of the Goulburn River valley and the Murray Darling Basin he would scrap the north-south pipeline, complete the Food Bowl Modernisation works, and if there were any savings from the project then keep them north of the Divide.”
“That way the government would have a chance of actually improving the health of these rivers instead of condemning them to further decline as water is siphoned off to Melbourne.“
“The Brumby Government has selectively ignored the evidence presented by the CSIRO and Bureau of Meteorology, the Murray Darling Basin Commission, and a host of other groups with expertise in the area of river health.”
“How blatant and damning does the evidence have to be before the Brumby Government will put a stop to the flawed north-south pipeline plan?” asked Mrs Powell.
Media Contact: Jeanette Powell (03) 5831 6944
