Policy and politicians are failing our environment and our future   

12 January 2019
Sydney Morning Herald


You probably had a lovely shower this morning before you sat down to read the paper. Imagine if, when you turned the tap, the water that came out stank. That’s life for people in Menindee and surrounding areas right now.   

Politicians from every state and federal parliament should be at Menindee to experience the stench of policy failure, because it is the mismanagement of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, not the drought, that is the true culprit for the toxic mess in Australia’s greatest river system.
Dead and dying animals including sheep, goats and kangaroos can be seen stuck in the mud as the Menindee Lakes dries out, as seen in this drone image taken on January 10.



It’s not just the odour that’s offensive. It should be inconceivable that a $13 billion water reform developed in response to drought has failed at its first drought. The fury and distress of farmers Rob McBride and Dick Arnold, as they held the rotting corpses of two enormous and iconic Murray cod, was palpable and it is a fury every Australian should share.

Federal and state governments have used taxpayers’ money to effectively make the problem worse. In the next few weeks the federal Coalition government will use taxpayers’ money to make another environmental and economic policy mistake that will burden future generations: refurbishing or building a new gas or coal-fired power station. Fortunately, it’s not too late to stop that disaster – but more on that mess later.   

Murray Darling mess

Governments of all political stripes are almost always willing to sacrifice the environment for big business, but the toxic mess in the Darling River shows the environment can only be pushed so far before it collapses. And when ecosystems collapse we can’t buy our way out of it, we can’t return cotton for a water refund so that people in Pooncarie can take a shower without giving their children skin infections that require hospitalisation.

The Murray Darling Basin Plan is supposed to deliver more water for the rivers. It was designed to prevent environmental disasters like the one currently stinking up the Darling River. The Barkandji People, after waiting 18 years for their Native Title to be acknowledged, have seen the Barka (Darling river) just dry up.   

Barkandji Elder Badger Bates said “without the river, us Barkandji people, we are nothing. We’ve got no land, no name, nothing. This is our lifeblood, this is our mother.”

Australia is a land of droughts and flooding rains, but this is a man-made ecological disaster. Draining the Menindee lakes twice in four years has proven to be an an environmental catastrophe and it was a deliberate decision that must now be explained. The only flood the Murray Darling has seen lately is the flood of media reports unleashed after ABC Four Corners blew the lid on allegations of water theft – since then stories of agency cover ups, political and regulatory capture, agencies with cultures of non-compliance, dodgy water deals, alleged fraud and unlawful amendments have been flowing non-stop.
Underwriting new coal-fired power a disaster for taxpayers

Now the Morrison government is rushing ahead with a half-baked plan to use taxpayers’ money to underwrite new dirty gas or coal-fired power stations, or refurbish old ones. Unless we stop it, this will be a disaster economically and environmentally, even the Australia Industry Group (AIG) warned this plan could leave taxpayers exposed to liabilities “with a net present value of billions of dollars”.   

    Australia is a land of droughts and flooding rains, but this is a man-made ecological disaster.

For the first time in the history of Australia’s electricity grid, coal fired power is not the cheapest form of new power generation. You’d think that would be good news to Australia’s ‘minister for reducing electricity prices’ Angus Taylor, but he is determined to waste taxpayers’ money on a project no one in the private sector will back with their own money.

The Energy Minister plans to handpick energy corporations to back. We don’t know how he will pick the lucky energy company given the program has not been finalised. We don’t know under what authority he will provide the support (and there are questions around whether he will need legislation as well) because the government has not provided much detail at all.

What we do know is that Minister Taylor has ignored the ACCC recommendation that would bar any party that already holds more than 10 per cent of a single market, allowing the big energy companies – the same ones accused by the Minister of pushing up electricity prices using their market power – to also take advantage of this new government subsidy instead of guaranteeing more competition.

It is not the only ACCC recommendation Minister Taylor has ignored. Government funding will begin from the first year of operation, without any demonstration that customers have been lined up to purchase the power.

Last week Seven News reported the government has received "up to 40" expressions of interest for public support for new power generation, including some for new gas and coal power plants.

Another day on the Darling near Menindee (photo by Graeme McCrabb)



Approximately 15kms upstream from Menindee a carpet of dead fish chokes the river (pic courtesy of Graeme McCrabb)

I don't get what the Murry and coal power stations have in common...…. Is the Journo saying because one topic is bad that another topic is bad or is their a link (maybe the coal power is using Murry water ?)

Seams very badly written

Captain Nemo wrote on Jan 30^th, 2019 at 8:43am:

Bobby. wrote on Jan 31^st, 2019 at 6:16am:

good one Bobby...
Murry, coal and a cold winter in USA..... and I nominate coral bleaching......

cods wrote on Jan 31^st, 2019 at 7:22am:


Bobby looks at the big picture.