Dear Sir,
Over the past decade I’ve seen both the Liberal and National parties let our region down badly on water policy. We have seen a Basin Plan instigated by their creation of the 2007 Water Act and poorly implemented over the past nine years in government. They can blame nobody else for the harm that has occurred – loss of production, jobs, and massive social and environmental damage. It’s been their reform and their mess.
Unfortunately, our region is low on their order of priorities. The National Party is more interested in their wealthy backers in the northern Basin and have failed to properly regulate floodplain harvesting there, which has reduced our own water reliability. The Liberal party is beholden to South Australian interests and holding on to marginal seats there.
Local Liberal and National candidates at this election will say the right things about water but they have no influence over their party’s policies. What their party leaders and financial backers say is what counts, and they see no reason to change. This election, I’d prefer our region to support a credible independent who can use their vote in a tight parliament to negotiate for a change to water policy. It’s got to be better than another three years of the same.
Yours sincerely,
Dudley Bryant Numurkah
