The Rudd Federal Government should use its power to ensure the impact of flooding the Lower Lakes with seawater is assessed independently, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Senator Birmingham announced he has written to Environment Minister Peter Garrett urging him to require independent oversight of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) being prepared on…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsLimited 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…
DetailsToday’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…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsThousands 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…
DetailsToday’s appointment of new Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and Special Broadcasting Service Corporation (SBS) Board members has cost too much and taken too long, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. Questions asked by Senator Birmingham in recent Senate Additional Estimates revealed the new board appointment process had cost more than $200,000, with the new…
DetailsThe Rann Government must appoint an independent expert panel to oversee the preparation of an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on its proposal to flood the Lower Lakes with seawater, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. It follows a determination by the Department of Environment, Heritage, Water and the Arts that the proposal is a…
DetailsThe Rudd Labor Government has been given another chance to do the right thing by the Murray-Darling Basin, through a Private Member’s Bill introduced by Senator Simon Birmingham this afternoon. The introduction of the Water Amendment (Saving the Goulburn and Murray Rivers) Bill 2008 follows Labor’s repeated refusal to support Coalition efforts to stop…
DetailsThe Australian Senate has again sent an unequivocal message to Kevin Rudd that the North-South Pipeline, which will send 75 billion litres of water a year to Melbourne, must be stopped. Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham said this Senate action followed the defeat of Coalition amendments to block the pipeline by Kevin Rudd and…
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