Liberal Democrats Senator David Leyonhjelm says Labor’s Shadow Environment Minister Tony Burke will become public enemy number one to rural communities after indicating he wants to take a further 450 gigalitres of water each year out of the Murray Darling and send it down the river to South Australia.
Senator Leyonhjelm says taking this much water – roughly equivalent to the volume of water in Sydney Harbour – would cripple communities that have already made it abundantly clear they are hurting.
“Tony Burke has clearly not bothered to read the report of last year’s Senate Inquiry, and is in denial about the impact of his Murray Darling Basin Plan on local communities. His call to take more water from the system is outrageous,” Senator Leyonhjelm said. “It’s pretty unlikely it could even be delivered – the river system does not have the capacity.”
Senator Leyonhjelm says the Government has not yet responded to last year’s report including recommendations that there be no more water buybacks, that there should be a full assessment of the social and economic impacts of the Plan, and a cost benefit analysis of the various options.
“We are still waiting for the Government to respond to the Senate Inquiry. When it comes to representing the interests of communities in the Murray Darling Basin, they seem to be unsure whose interests they care about. But Tony Burke has demonstrated that the Labor Party is downright toxic,” Senator Leyonhjelm said.
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Contact Gavin Atkins at Senator Leyonhjelm’s office on 0448 164 844.
