Dear Editor
The community-based Speak Up Campaign is at a total loss in trying to understand why the NSW Government refuses to support communities in the southern part of the state.
We believe the state’s water mismanagement has reached new heights with the decision by Water Minister, Melinda Pavey to lift the embargo in the north on floodplain harvesting, which is akin to pumping water into their dams that otherwise could have flowed downstream.
While the National Party is in control and making up the rules, it appears they will continue to look after their northern mates at our expense.
They come down here from time to time and tell us to work together and present solutions to our water issues. We do everything that is asked, yet as soon as they go back to Sydney or their northern homes we get ignored again.
The latest backflip by Water Minister Pavey to lift the embargo allowing the harvesting of floodwaters that have just started flowing after prolonged drought just beggar’s belief.
Ms Pavey says she is helping northern communities. Is there any chance that at some point the NSW Government may try to help our southern communities?
It is unbelievable that the Minister and her department could act so quickly to lift the northern pumping embargo after the long-awaited rains, when it took nine months for it to respond to a letter from Speak Up last year. And when we received a response, it did not address any of the issues we had raised. It was as if the department did not even know where the NSW Murray region is located.
We raised a sensible option using the Snowy Hydro Fund which could help alleviate the distress in the Murray region, but it didn’t even get a mention in the reply. This proposal was discussed in 2018 with Deputy Premier John Barilaro, who said it was worth investigating. Now, it seems any suggestion to help the Southern Basin if ‘off the table’.
It would appear the Snowy Hydro Fund is limited to helping the National Party’s politically important northern region and continuing to ignore our region.
Hypocritically, Minister Pavey criticised the Queensland Government the previous week for lifting a pumping embargo, then lifted the one that was in place in NSW.
It is disappointing, but we are at the stage of having no trust in the NSW Government. One minute we are told the Barwon is experiencing infrastructure flooding and the water won’t make it further down than Bourke, and a few days later we are told that because of their restrictions water will get to Menindee. You can’t have it both ways.
Meanwhile, the Murray River is forced to continue to provide all South Australia’s needs, to the detriment of our environment and communities. Our food producers remain on zero allocation with a Government not prepared to help in any way to lift this, yet it will do whatever is necessary to help those in the north who, it seems, have more political clout.
Is it any wonder we feel disillusioned?
Yours faithfully
Shelley Scoullar
Chair – Speak Up Campaign
