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Australia to turn off the tap on farmers as drought bites
Neil Sands, AFP
Australia warned Thursday that unless heavy rains fell soon irrigation water for the nation's prime farmland would be cut off, deepening a crippling drought's drag on the economy.

Declaring rural Australia was facing an "unprecedentedly dangerous" crisis, Prime Minister John Howard said water to farms in the Murray-Darling river basin would be shut off unless the drought broke in the next month.

Farmers said the shock move could devastate the nation's wine harvest, orchards and dairy industry by further drying out a region that grows 40 percent of Australia's agricultural produce.

But Howard said scarce water supplies were needed for urban communities facing critical shortages due to a drought scientists have described as the worst in a century.

"It's a grim situation and there's no point in pretending to the Australian public otherwise," Howard told reporters.
(19 April 2007)

Murray-Darling plan hits impasse
Australian Associated Press
Victoria and the Commonwealth have promised to continue negotiations on the stalled $10 billion Murray-Darling basin reform package.

Prime Minister John Howard said he would appeal "to the better angels of" Steve Bracks despite the Victorian premier calling the package a "dog".

But Mr Howard says he is not prepared to make special conditions just for Victoria. Mr Bracks says the plan would hurt Victoria and remains unacceptable in its current form.

So far NSW, Queensland, South Australia and the ACT have agreed to the deal under which they will cede their powers over the Murray-Darling basin to the commonwealth in exchange for a huge upgrade of irrigation infrastructure. ..
(13 Apr 2007)

Turnbull fails to convince farmers
Rick Wallace, The Australian
FEDERAL Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull's rural roadshow to sell his $10billion water plan has erupted into a bitter row with Victorian irrigators - the very group he must placate to succeed.

The tour was supposed to be a triumphant sweep down the Murray River, wooing farmers and sweeping aside the last obstacle to the federal takeover of the Murray-Darling.
Instead, the minister spent yesterday making a series of angry calls to industry figures who had spoken out earlier yesterday, calling him ill-prepared and unable to explain the consequences of his plan.

The row erupted when Victorian Farmers Federation president Simon Ramsay said the minister was "mealy mouthed" and incomprehensible when explaining the plan at a series of public meetings.

"At Mildura no one could understand what he was talking about, at Wangaratta he was mealy mouthed and at Shepparton he was just as confusing," Mr Ramsay said.

Despite receiving a vitriolic spray from Mr Turnbull over the phone yesterday morning - some of which was "not fit to print" - Mr Ramsay stuck by his comments made to The Weekly Times, saying irrigators remained unconvinced about the takeover. ..
(12 Apr 2007)

Deceit, fiddling and featherbedding as the government goes to water
Stephen Mayne, Crikey.com
Despite protestations from the Prime Minister down, Treasury Secretary Ken Henry has blown the lid on the Government’s reckless disregard for good sensible policy on both climate change and water. ..

And when it does come to infrastructure investment, we get a $10 billion water plan seemingly dreamt up on the back of an envelope without reference to Cabinet or Treasury.

The most disturbing aspect of the plan is the idea that irrigators will be given $3 billion to surrender their excess water rights. This won’t build one dollar of infrastructure and will line the pockets of the group that constitutes the heart and sole of the National Party -- irrigators.

How much of that public money will boomerang back to the National Party in the form of political donations? Moree-based cotton farmer Dick Estens is one such irrigator who stands to receive many millions just as he works towards becoming a Federal National Party MP.

Treasury would never have tolerated such a folly -- which perhaps explains why it wasn’t consulted by a government getting ever closer to its death rattle.
(5 Apr 2007)

Premier Says He's "Not Surprised" By News Of Water Theft From Sports Club
Richard Bowden, All Headline News
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said to reporters he was "not surprised" by the news of a theft of an amount of water from a Rugby League club in Brisbane's eastern suburbs.

The theft of over 3,000 gallons of water from the Fortitude Valley Junior Rugby League Club "dumbfounded" club officials said Club treasurer Neil Clarke.

"Who would stoop so low?" Mr Clarke asked reporters, "It has an impact because we got to a stage where we were very water efficient and our water bill had dropped substantially." "This time of year we don't know when we will get more rain." Mr Beattie called the theft a "sign of the times." ..

The theft comes just days after Level five water restrictions took effect across areas of south-east Queensland as the state battles its worst drought on record and water supply levels continue to drop.
(12 Apr 2007)