Water Minister Tony Burke should provide certainty to all Murray-Darling stakeholders by indicating quickly whether he is happy with the latest iteration of the Proposed Basin Plan released by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority today.
With just three weeks left for the States to provide further comment on the plan, Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham has called on Minister Burke to clarify whether he continues to have any concerns with the plan.
When the proposed plan was released on 28 May this year Minister Burke was quick to say that he was unhappy with it, stating in a press conference that:
“We are not yet at a point where I believe we’ve got documents in front of us that I’d be happy to sign off on.”
“Tony Burke must know whether all of his concerns have now been addressed and should clearly indicate whether or not that is the case,” Senator Birmingham said today.
“Before the states or any other stakeholders take this last opportunity to comment on the plan they deserve to know if this is a plan Tony Burke would ‘be happy to sign off on’.
“To restore any sense of confidence to this trouble plagued reform there must be a no surprises approach from here on.
“A number of important changes requested by all states have been made to this plan, which might have addressed Minister Burke’s concerns. If he has any outstanding concerns he should make them clear now, so they can be addressed in this last chance for stakeholder comments.”