2019-04-10
The fish kill report underlines that the environment must be put first and we need a royal commission to fix the management of the Murray Darling Basin before it is too late.
“Water allocations and licenses must be changed in order to make sure there is enough water in the river when flows are low. To do this the parliament must lift the freeze on water buybacks and reinstate the ability to purchase water for the environment,”
“In order to save the river more environmental water must be purchased off irrigators. This means reinstating water buy backs and reversing cuts to environmental flows previously supported by the Labor and Liberal parties.
“This report shows very clearly that the environment has been forgotten and climate change disregarded in managing the Murray Darling Basin, and that must change.
“This report, along with the South Australian Royal Commission and the Productivity Commission, shows that the greed of the big corporate irrigators must be tackled head on. When water levels are low, the environment must be prioritised, which ultimately means big irrigators must be prevented from taking more than the river can handle.
“This report comes as new polling shows 73 per cent of South Australians support the Greens’ push for a federal Royal Commission into the Murray Darling Basin.”