ALL THE KING'S HORSES...
The king was in his counting house counting all his money. The queen was in the parlour eating bread and honey. The lads were in the field searching seeds and slurry, when down came a blackbird and snipped off their hose. Four and twenty blackbirds and a pocket full of rye baked in the dry.
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We must question the integrity and transparency of those that represent us, those elected kings and queens and their swooping blackbirds, particularly when it comes to water policy and water trading.
When water was separated from the land under the Water Act 2007, water became a tradable property in its own right. This enabled the trade of water without owning land or having an interest in food or fibre production and it could be freely traded like stock market shares.
Water trading has been a lucrative profit making tool for many, without disclosing vested interests like other assets. This has contributed towards today's high water prices putting it out of reach of many of our farmers who need it to grow food and fibre.
Back to our kings and queens in state and federal government. In February this year, the Member for Murray lodged a bill in the NSW state parliament to demand water ownership transparency from members of parliament and to expose or prevent using their position of power in order to profiteer. A watered down bill has just been put to the lower house.
Us lads now question why both the Liberals and Nationals voted against some necessary amendments and ask is it because they happen to have knowledge without integrity?
Many of us lads also feel that the blackbirds have been directed to swoop and cut off our hose to make water scarce, without comprehending the fate of Australia's economy, food security and family farms.
If such is true, these royal subjects must be shown the door under section 44 (v) of the Australian Constitution; disqualification of power for having either a direct or indirect pecuniary interest. Remembering it is us lads, who pay these king's and queen's wages.
Tanya Ginns, Murrami
DEBATE FLOODED WITH TOXICITY
Helen Dalton and The Shooters need to put up, or shut up!
The debate around water has been toxic for some time, but in recent months it's become flooded in misinformation. I believe this has been encouraged by the Shooters' Helen Dalton, particularly on social media. It has created fear and anger, the two things a cross-bench member like Ms Dalton needs to thrive. No respectful debate can occur without the facts, which are;
- Ms Dalton's much vaunted water bill is redundant - she is well aware the Clerks of the Parliament have already ruled that water assets need to be declared by Members of Parliament.
- Be careful what you wish for - Ms Dalton's 'Water Register' captures every single irrigator and farmer in a publicly accessible register. She will create 'Aussie Farms 2.0'. Every single Green group or protestor against irrigation will have your details and be able to target you, in exactly the same way Aussie Farms did.
- Ms Dalton's bill did not capture water trades. There was no requirement to declare when water was traded, nor the value of that trade. This was a particularly interesting omission from the only person I am aware of, who trades water in the NSW Parliament. It makes me wonder how this obvious oversight occurred?
The new Bill put forward by Water Minister Melinda Pavey corrects these issues. Ms Dalton calls this a 'watered down' bill, but if protecting Mum and Dad farmers and requiring big trading players in Parliament to record their trades is watering the bill down, then you have to ask why she is fighting it and why she's afraid of it?
Finally, Ms Dalton is doing a disservice to the people of Murray and NSW by continuing to allude to water corruption on social media, then casually including mentions of myself, along with others.
It creates distrust with voters and I am continually asked 'how much water do I have?' or I'm called 'corrupt' by social media trolls.
I do not have any water. I have never had water. I can't afford the $17 million odd in water assets to trade, in the manner that Ms Dalton does.
If I did, I would have had to declare it on my Parliamentary register, as per the Clerk's advice. If Ms Dalton wants to continue mentioning me in social media posts that contain the word 'corruption', then I demand she puts up, or shuts up.
Table what proof you have in the Parliament, or hand it to authorities.
Perhaps Ms Dalton should instead focus on delivering for the Murray electorate, because in the more than 12 months she has been the Member, she has failed to deliver on a single promise made to the people of the Murray electorate.
They'd be right to ask, why she is so focused on an issue she has a large financial interest, when so many other areas in the electorate go without her attention?
Wes Fang MLC, Wagga
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