The news that UK-based investment
holding company, the Guinness Peat
Group, has launched a takeover bid for water-trading agribusiness and
erstwhile cotton grower, Tandou,
will come as no surprise to the increasing number of Australians dismayed by the
sell-off of their water, according to public water-rights and environmental
advocate, Fair Water Use
(Australia).
Three of Australia’s largest water advocacy groups today applauded the South Australian Government for not ruling out removing control of Adelaide’s water supply from the private sector.
In a joint communiquefrom the Australian Water Network, FairWater Use (Australia) and South Australian umbrella group the Water Action Coalition, Mr Rann was encouraged to openly oppose the privatisation of water, including that of the Murray-Darling, and allow South Australians to voice their opinion via the ballot box next year.
Spokesman, Dr Ian Douglas, stated this morning, “South Australians now have the opportunity to be the first electorate to require that our dwindling water resources are protected from open-market profiteering and are protected as a public good.”
Water privateers on the march
Friday, 14 August 2009
MEDIA RELEASE
Fair Water Use (Australia) believes that the worst fears of the rapidly-increasing percentage of Australians who are disgusted by the ongoing privatisation of the nation’s water have been confirmed by recent statements ascribed to Gavin Hanlon, Managing Director of Coliban Water Corporation, which controls water supplies to a large portion of the state of Victoria.
The private sector increases its strangle-hold on the Murray-Darling
Sunday, 26 July 2009
MEDIA RELEASE
Data obtained by Fair Water Use from the Bureau of Meteorology and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority provides confirmation of the effect of the rapid increase in privately-held water in the Darling Basin on the volumes of water available for essential public and environmental use, refuting claims that the crisis in the Darling is predominantly drought-related.
The following is an extract from the current edition of Distilled, the monthly newsletter produced by the National Water Commission, the government-appointed national body ostensibly responsible for "driving progress towards the sustainable management and use of Australia's water resources" - a gloriously vacuous aspiration, even by institutional standards:
"Stakeholders urge more action on water reform:
Water industry stakeholders have urged the Commission to continue to fearlessly identify areas where further and faster reforms are needed to get water reform "back on track". The Commission's stakeholder forum has underscored the importance of collaboration as part of a renewed commitment to national water reform by all governments, industry partners and private sector stakeholders."
Advocating environmentally-responsible use of Murray-Darling water
Fair Water Use (Australia) is a lobby group formed by everyday Australians who share the vision of a revived Murray-Darling basin and the sustainable environmental, community and economic benefits that would flow from its recovery.
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