MUDDY WATER
In response to my letter to the Hon. Prime Minister Scott Morrison MP October 23, 2018. I received a letter from the Hon. David Littleproud MP, as quote. In respect your concern about Adani, water allocation for agriculture and mining is the responsibility of the relevant state water authorities and not the Commonwealth Government.
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The Queensland Government granted Adani a groundwater and surface licence for the safe operation of the proposed mine. The volume of water available to Adani is limited to the purpose of operating the mine safely. Not one word about my concern of the low water allocation of seven per cent for Murrumbidgee Irrigation and the Murray zero per cent and the Murray Darling Basin Plan in 2007 to take 42 per cent of water from irrigation farmers for the environment, in the middle of a drought that lasted nine years and the Commonwealth buy back of water for the environment, too many hands in the muddy water and Australia is one of the only countries in the world that sell water entitlements to overseas investors who produce food for their own country.
State Labor Government! The Water Acts of 1905 state ownership of all water resource; administration of the Burrinjuck dam system by three commissioners, to be independent of politics and parliament and waters of the western rivers are a great public resource which must be placed under public control to protect the public welfare. Today we have the Commonwealth Environmental Water who is responsible for the environment water that flows to South Australia, which comes from Southern NSW and Victoria irrigation communities.
Under the current rules the MDBA independently manages all the Murray River's storages, weirs and is responsible for the release of water from the Dartmouth Dam, that flows up to the South Australian border. At that point all river operation is controlled by the S.A. Government.
While our farmers are facing water shortages and high water prices, S.A. irrigators are receiving 100 per cent water allocation in times of drought and to top it off the S.A. government selling excess water to NSW and Victorian farming communities, price $500/ML, rice mill loss of 80 jobs and dairy farmers walking off and S.A. long weekend in January fresh water classic yachting regatta held on Lake Alexandrina.
Water has become so complicated, the Commonwealth Government that environmental water available to retain the lower lake level at the expense of the barrage flows, compromises the connection of the river to the sea and may put at risk "Under the Ramsar Convention" the Australian Government obligation, the international agreement to protect the Coorong.
It has been reported that more than 600GL of additional environmental water has reached the lower lake every year since 2014-15 to maintain the lakes levels. It is time to open up the barrages and let the sea sin, as our first explorers found it and let our farming communities keep on farming at what they do best, feed the nation.
Fran Pietroboni, Griffith
CHARITY BEGINS AT HOME
Our nation's bleeding heart do-gooder brigade need to get their priorities in order. Charity begins at home first and foremost. Our number one priority is not to 1,000 people already comfortably well looked after (medically and otherwise). Rather it is to the well being of our struggling farmers in dire straits having been to hell and back with a long recovery ahead of them. Their mental survival is where our taxpayers money should be directed immediately.
As for dismantling our border safety control to ferry this 1,000 onto our shores for pretense (urgent) medical procedures by using a loophole in our law system to gain a life style here is a further sneaky maneuver. What about the genuine refugees rotting away in camps for years, the ones with genuine credentials to afford them acceptance in our front door.
These poor people are missing out on their chance for freedom and a new safe life, because, it is costing our taxpayers a fortune to keep these ones on these islands (who arrived able to pay their fare through our back door).
They choose to bombard our nation uninvited, no wonder we can't afford to take the real refugees. This is what really isn't fair while ever the bleeding heart Greens and hangers on cry foul. Where are their tears for the millions with no hope in these refugee camps elsewhere?
At least this 1,000 are free, safe, well fed and in pleasant surroundings. The ones in the camps aren't. Imagine what those poor lost souls would give if they could swap places with these 1,000 people on these islands. Let's stop feeling compassion for the wrong ones and think about the ones in camps overseas with no hope, no home, no future. They die while they wait.
Yvonne Rance, Griffith
BEWILDERING PELL DECISION
Last Wednesday in Griffith I bought a Daily Telegraph. Like millions of people who would have done the same thing, I glanced through it's lurid pages to read of Cardinal George Pell's guilt. When I arrived home I read every word of it's first seven pages, including the narrow columns that contained the facts of the court proceedings.
How could eight men and four women of average common sense, not to mention average intelligence, decide in favour of poor AA's fanciful and ugly story instead of Cardinal Pell's clear and foolproof defence? As Andrew Bolt said in his tiny little article pushed to the bottom of page five "Cardinal Pell is a victim not an abuser."
Andrew Bolt stated he was not a Catholic or even a Christian. I am bewildered by the decision of the jury but I am equally bewildered by the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Why did they make a decision to shelter criminals, criminals of the worst type? It's not that long since child sex offenders warranted the death penalty in the state of Victoria.
Mrs Terry Conlan, Binya