Higher taxes to pay for a carbon tax?!

  Australians will face higher state taxes and/or service cuts as a direct result of the carbon tax, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today.   It follows revelations from South Australian Labor Treasurer Jack Snelling about the extent of the financial impact on the state budget’s bottom line.   “We expect…

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Embarrassing Labor ‘no show’ for Basin Plan meeting

  Labor and the Greens have today again shown they’re not serious about listening to Murray-Darling Basin communities about the proposed Basin Plan, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today.   Senator Birmingham today attended today’s Murray-Darling Basin Authority public meeting in Murray Bridge, as did fellow federal Liberal MPs Patrick Secker, Jamie Briggs and…

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A murky plan for murky waters

  A reasonable person would think that a plan for the sustainable management of the Murray-Darling Basin would specify how much water would be used for particular environmental assets and how much water would be recovered from particular communities. The plan released today does neither.   This plan is as murky as the very waterways it…

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What’s the story, Basin Authority?

  A drip feed of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s draft Basin Plan is in conflict with its stated need for secrecy just a year ago, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today.   Despite the long overdue proposed Basin Plan having been scheduled now for release on 28 November, reports in recent weeks indicate several…

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Let the carbon tax bureaucracy begin!

  Australians have just 40 sleeps to Christmas and another 99 sleeps to the start of their new bureaucracy under Julia Gillard’s carbon tax, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today.   The Gillard Government today announced its Clean Energy Regulator will begin operations on 2 April 2012.   “Labor has today…

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Draft Basin Plan delayed again

  The Murray-Darling Basin Authority has announced yet another delay to the release of its long overdue proposed Basin Plan.   The latest delay comes just one day after the COAG Reform Council warned that any further extension of timeframes for the proposed Basin Plan‘s delivery was a key risk to future reform milestones.  …

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