LEON BYNER: Just taking you back a little bit. We established when I say ‘we’, the Government under the suggestion of everybody who thought that we need this independent group of people that would decide the fate of water and how it ought to be used, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, they went…
DetailsALEXANDRA KIRK: Mike Taylor says in a statement that a sustainable plan for the Murray-Darling Basin will need far more than a decision on how much water should be transferred from human uses to the environment. He says it requires the Commonwealth and states to work together with the communities, industry and environmental groups…
DetailsKIERAN GILBERT: More now on the resignation of the Chair of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. Senator Simon Birmingham is the spokesperson for the Murray-Darling for the Opposition. I spoke to him a little earlier. Senator Simon Birmingham, thank you very much for your time. We’ve known for some time that there have been differences of…
DetailsMATTHEW ABRAHAM: Simon Birmingham is a Liberal Senator for South Australia, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment. Good morning, do you concede that moving to renewable energy is the way of the future and that South Australia is setting the pace here? SIMON BIRMINGHAM: Look, we obviously need to do all we can…
DetailsThe resignation of Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) chairman Mike Taylor has plunged the already troubled Murray-Darling reform process into a deep crisis. Mr Taylor has resigned at the worst possible time, having just concluded consultation on the Authority’s Guide to the proposed Basin Plan but before the finalisation of the actual proposed Basin…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: The resignation today by Mike Taylor, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority chairman throws into crisis Murray-Darling reform in Australia. This is a resignation that couldn’t have come at a worse time and the statement he has issued comes with very serious implications for the reform process. What we see from the resignation statement by Mr…
DetailsDAVID LIPSON: Let’s hear what our panel makes of these reports [that the Government is preparing to reintroduce a finance guarantee scheme for building societies and credit unions], we have Liberal MP Simon Birmingham in Adelaide, also Ed Husic from the Labor side, he’s joining us from our Sydney newsroom, thank you gentlemen, both…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: Infrastructure is the one way you can get ‘win win’ outcomes from Basin reform, the way you can actually return water to the environment whilst keeping productive capacity on-farm and for Australia and that’s why it’s the best option for support by government, the best option for local communities and it’s why…
DetailsSIMON BIRMINGHAM: Three years is a long time in anyone’s terms and it’s an eternity in politics. We’ve seen the rise and fall of the Rudd Government and the coming of the Gillard Government in the last three years, but the Gillard Government is at risk of making the Rudd Government look like a stable…
DetailsALI MOORE: The Federal Opposition says the internal debate within Labor over nuclear energy shows the Prime Minister is losing control of the party. For more on where this debate may go we’re joined by political correspondent Lyndal Curtis, who’s talking to Labor MP Michael Danby and Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham. LYNDAL CURTIS: Michael Danby and…
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