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."
As recently stated by Fair Water Use, when it comes to decisions about Australia’s water future, “the main game is taking place in the back-rooms of our elected representatives and the board-rooms of corporate water-mongers, predominantly overseas players.”
Recent actions of State governments confirm that this wheeling-dealing activity shows no sign of abating, especially with respect to the Murray Darling Basin.
One wonders how many Australians are aware of the
significance of USFTA, an acronym that is being used with ever-increasing
frequency in the course of “in-house” discussions on the future of Australia’s
vital and vulnerable water resources.
Whilst the public continues to be fed the usual government
spin that the current crisis affecting the Murray-Darling is all about drought
(conveniently ignoring the fact that much of the Darling catchment has received
average to well above average rainfall in recent years), it is clear that,
behind the façade of avuncular concern, the main game is taking place in the back-rooms
of our elected representatives and the board-rooms of corporate water-mongers,
predominantly overseas players. The name of the game is privatisation, the
currency is Australian water and the trump card is the US Free Trade Agreement.
Water Utilities Report : Fair Water Use gives straight F’s
Monday, 06 April 2009
MEDIA RELEASE
A performance report released last Friday (3rd April 2009)
by the Parliamentary Secretary for Water indicates that, despite Australia’s
water utilities increasing capital expenditure by around 80% over the last
three financial years, the volume of water recovered by recycling in that same
period increased by only 30%, and by a paltry 6% in 07-08 in comparison to the
preceding financial year.
The above quote is one of many credited to noted 18th
century polymath Benjamin Franklin. However it is also the tag line of a
US-based, investment advisory group, Summit Global Management.
Should this be of the slightest interest to Australians? -
Most definitely: This organisation has just purchased over 20 million dollars
worth of high-security water from the Murray-Darling Basin. Fair Water Use
has been
informed by a reliable source that Summit plans to further increase its
stake in the nation’s water over coming months.
Media Releases 
