[Greens-Media] Tas Greens_Govt Irresponsible on Water Allocations_T Morris MP

[greens at parliament.tas.gov.au]

LLEWELLYN FAILS ON IRRIGATION - ANSWERS NEEDED NOW!

Fair Access not Unlimited Free Access

Tim Morris MP
Greens Shadow Water Spokesperson

Thursday, 6 November 2008
Contact: State Parliamentary Offices of the Tasmanian Greens, (03) 6233
8300

www.tas.greens.org.au


The Tasmanian Greens today called on the Bartlett Labor Government to
move urgently to determine how many properties on the Lake and Ouse
Rivers have unlicenced, and therefore uncapped, rights to water, for
irrigation purposes, and investigate how much water is being extracted
under this arrangement as a first step to providing them with a modern
water licence and a water allocation.

Greens Shadow Water spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that with the
statement last year by the Leader for the Government in the Legislative
Council that "As water licences are not required it is not known exactly
how many irrigators are extracting water from the Lake and Ouse Rivers
and in what quantities"[i]; shows that Labor has knowingly allowed
outdated practices to continue, without any consideration of
environmental requirements or equity for other farmers who also need to
access water.

"It is outrageous and unacceptable in this current day and age for the
government to not know how much water is being taken out of our rivers
for irrigation purposes due to out-of-date uncapped riparian rights
arrangements, let alone not knowing how many farmers are extracting
water without a cap," Mr Morris said.

"The government was aware that this situation existed but was clearly
hoping that nobody would notice, which is negligent behaviour." 

 "Because of the Government's failure to regulate properly the use of
water for irrigation in the Ouse and Lake River catchments many farmers
are going out of business due to lack of water whilst other farmers are
able to pour unlimited quantities of water across their paddocks and
apparently do not even have to pay for it."

"Whilst these uncapped entitlements remain in place there is no
possibility of putting in place a reliable supply of water for those
farmers and towns in the midlands who are completely out of water due to
the drought changing climate." 

"The Water Minister, Mr Llewellyn, has completely failed to regulate the
water entitlements for those property owners who benefited for the past
50 years from a special provision in the law that allowed them to access
unlimited amounts of water from the Ouse and Lake Rivers and he must be
held to account for his failure to act in the past 10 years." 


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[i] Legislative Council Hansard, 30 August 2007.




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