Water Minister Tony Burke must rule out interfering in the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s (MDBA’s) decision making surrounding last year’s release of its Guide to the proposed Basin Plan or else explain why he did interfere, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. It follows revelations in Senate Additional Estimates this morning that the Authority only…
DetailsWater Minister Tony Burke should state clearly whether the Government expects to spend all of the amounts budgeted for water buybacks in this and future years, Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. It follows Mr Burke signalling changes to the Gillard Government’s buyback program despite having criticised the Coalition’s proposal to…
DetailsThe Coalition’s proposed partial deferral of water buybacks in the Murray-Darling Basin could be a win-win that would actually help Basin reform, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. Leader Tony Abbott has today outlined $600 million of deferred water buybacks over the forward estimates, as part of more than $2 billion…
DetailsSenator Simon Birmingham has heard a raft of complaints following December’s switchover to digital television in parts of regional South Australia. “South Australians have reported a variety of problems caused by the switchover to digital TV,” Senator Birmingham said today. “It is clear that people are facing problems with the switchover and…
DetailsWater Minister Tony Burke’s appointment of former NSW Labor Minister Craig Knowles as the new Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) Chair is deeply concerning. Minister Burke served in NSW State Parliament with Mr Knowles who held a variety of portfolios in the revolving-door shemozzle that is NSW Labor. The decision to politicise such…
DetailsGreg Combet and Mark Dreyfus must be congratulated for their foresight in announcing a floods rebuilding savings measure before the floods occurred, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment Simon Birmingham said today. It follows Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s inclusion of Green Start’s scrapping as she today announced, or re-announced in this case, measures…
DetailsAustralians angry at the bungling of water reform deserve to know the full story surrounding legal advice over preparation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. A Freedom of Information application by Senator Birmingham for legal advice, to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, relating to the weighting of economic,…
DetailsBillions of litres in potential water savings remain unavailable to irrigators or the environment due to Julia Gillard’s failure to progress works at the Menindee Lakes water storage, Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. The re-engineering of Menindee Lakes in New South Wales headed a list of Labor priority projects at…
DetailsThe Gillard Government is fast running out of time for a smooth handover at the helm of Murray-Darling Basin reform, Coalition Basin spokesman Simon Birmingham said today. It is now 45 days since Mike Taylor announced on 7 December that he would leave the role of Chair of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA)…
DetailsJulia Gillard is deliberately misleading Australians by claiming she wants to keep the Murray-Darling reform process on time. Coalition Murray-Darling Basin spokesman, Senator Simon Birmingham, says the Prime Minister knows full well that delays imposed by her government mean the reform cannot and will not be delivered according to the initial timeline. …
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