Kevin Rudd has the opportunity to pass strengthened and improved legislation rescuing the Murray-Darling Basin after its passage through the Senate today, Senator Simon Birmingham said today. The Senate has this afternoon passed the Rudd Government’s Water Amendment Bill 2008, with the blockage of Melbourne’s controversial pipeline and a $50 million emergency package…
DetailsAdelaide today plays host to a Senate Committee inquiring into the management of Australia’s waste streams. Today’s is the first of four public hearings in four different cities being held as part of an inquiry initiated by South Australian Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham with a wide brief to examine how Australia…
DetailsPeter Garrett continues to be in denial as the only person in Australia who still thinks imposing a means test on the solar panel rebate scheme will somehow help to combat climate change. Today’s report by the Senate Standing Committee on Environment, Communications and the Arts confirms the negative impact the means test…
DetailsMelbourne today plays host to a Senate Committee inquiring into the management of Australia’s waste streams. Today’s is the second of four public hearings in four different cities being held as part of an inquiry initiated by South Australian Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham with a wide brief to examine how Australia…
DetailsSenator 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…
DetailsSignatures 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…
DetailsThe 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…
DetailsClaims 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…
DetailsPlans 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…
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…
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