MEDIA RELEASE

Coordinator of Fair Water Use (Australia), Dr Ian Douglas has responded to today?s statement by the Federal Water Minister that the Commonwealth is not in a position to purchase major irrigating agribusiness enterprise, Darling Farms, in the absence of support from the State Government of NSW.

?It merely confirms what has become increasingly clear to Australians over recent months: that current arrangements with respect to the governance and administration of the Murray-Darling Basin are dysfunctional and self-defeating, and are clearly failing to maintain this vital river system for the benefit of us all?, Dr Douglas said.

Fair Water Use has today submitted documentation to the Secretary of the Senate Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee, which is coordinating submissions to the Senate Inquiry into water management in the Coorong and Lower Lakes and the Emergency Water (Murray-Darling Basin Rescue) Bill 2008.

These documents call for and define the terms of a declaration of a State of Emergency and the establishment of a Royal Commission of Inquiry into the management and governance of the Murray-Darling Basin, and may be viewed at www.fairwateruse.com.au .