2019-01-18
Australian Greens Senator for NSW and water engineer, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, has visited the Menindee Lakes and Broken Hill to meet with locals and discuss the crisis of the Murray Darling system.
Dr Faruqi said:
“It’s clear that there is justified and widespread community anger at the situation and at the Liberal/National Governments at state and Federal levels that have caused it to happen.
“As a water engineer, I know that healthy river systems only function when they are allowed to have significant environmental flows. The system has been denied that for many years by rules that privilege big corporations and operators over the environment and community.
“For years, this river system has been used and abused for profit. The hundreds of thousands of dead fish in the river system is the tragic result of that. I am really concerned that another mass fish kill is not a matter of if, but when.
“We also cannot hope to protect our mighty Murray Darling system if we don’t address the elephant in the room, dangerous climate change that will mean more and more severe droughts and heatwaves.
“The community members I met with have a clear call for action – return flows from upstream and establish a Royal Commission to get to the bottom of this disaster.
“I thank the locals of Menindee for their hospitality, support and resilience and assure them that the Greens will continue to stand with them, shoulder to shoulder, until this mess is fixed.
“The Greens will be moving to set up a Royal Commission into this whole sorry saga as soon as Parliament resumes. This is an issue of national and international importance," she concluded.
A picture of Senator Faruqi at the Menindee Lakes with local Rob McBride is available here:https://drive.google.com/file/d/1lBmxMAzS63kAcvbOa1NayaHBWbkx8rCG/view?usp=sharing
Further pictures are available on request.