MEDIA RELEASE

National environmental and water-rights advocacy group Fair Water Use (Australia) has responded to the statement issued by the Federal Minister for Climate Change and Water, following release of the latest Drought Update by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority:

“The Federal Water Minister is now using the crisis in the Murray-Darling to push the weak CPRS that the Prime Minister wishes to parade in Copenhagen.

Whilst climate change is indeed impacting on the Murray-Darling, the Rudd Government can be quite justifiably accused of policy drought and dereliction of duty in implying that Australians must largely rely on the Commonwealth's "Water For the Future" plan to address the worsening situation in the Basin. This initiative will deliver too little, far too late.

Fair Water Use repeats its call for the Prime Minister to declare of a State of Emergency in the Murray-Darling Basin, prior to leaving on his Scandinavian trip, to enable the Federal Government to remove the Basin States and the ACT from the broken chain of command and to revise management priorities, placing the environmental health of the river system, security of public water supply and the essential needs of the domestic market above those of other vested interests.

Such decisive action would also improve Mr Rudd’s credibility on environmental issues in time for the Copenhagen summit.”