Senator Simon Birmingham today welcomed the Senate’s decision to refer the dire situation facing the Murray-Darling, particularly the Lower Lakes and Coorong, to an urgent committee inquiry. The inquiry by the Senate Standing Committee on Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport will report by 30 September, giving it a shorter than usual time…
Signatures on an agreement won’t be enough to save the dying River Murray, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. First Ministers are expected to sign an Intergovernmental Agreement (IGA) for Murray-Darling Basin Reform at today’s Council of Australian Governments (COAG) meeting in Sydney. “The easy task for First Ministers is to sign the…
The Rudd Government is refusing to take the Australian people into its confidence in relation to the Lower Lakes and Coorong, even defying a Senate order to do so, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The Senate yesterday passed a ‘return to order’ for Water Minister Penny Wong to disclose the emergency advice she…
Claims that estimated water savings underpinning a controversial planned pipeline have been inflated must be investigated, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The claims have today been presented by the ‘Plug the Pipe’ campaign to a Senate committee inquiry into a Bill designed to prevent the Sugarloaf or ‘North-South’ pipeline from sending 75 billion…
Plans to rip out an extra 75 billion litres of water a year from the Murray-Darling Basin should be abandoned in light of revelations the stressed system might already not be able to meet basic human needs, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham said it was astonishing that the Victorian and Australian…
The Rudd Government is risking a lack of public confidence in the process surrounding moves to flood the Lower Lakes with sea water, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Under national environmental law, the Rann State Government has been required by Federal Minister Garrett to prepare an EIS on its proposal to open the…
Limited measures to help the Murray-Darling Basin passed as part of an overall package plunging Australian taxpayers into crippling debt for years to come are a double disappointment, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. “The small steps secured today towards providing relief for the Murray-Darling are welcome, given that the system needs all the…
Today’s commissioning of water pipelines for Lower Lakes communities serves to highlight inaction on projects that actually save water, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. “I welcome today’s final commissioning ceremony for pipelines providing greater water security for Lower Lakes communities,” Senator Birmingham said today. ”This important and worthy project will be of great benefit…
The Rudd Government and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) had demonstrated a very strange set of spending priorities in recent months, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham, as Deputy Chair of the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts, has today been involved in questioning the taxpayer-funded broadcaster’s management in…
Thousands of households could be forced to pay a second time just for access to free-to-air television in a ‘best case’ scenario, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The revelation has come in questioning of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy and departmental officials as part of Senate Additional Estimates. “Having already paid to install…