The state government and its agency Melbourne Water are, I believe, in breach of Federal Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts, Peter Garrett’s conditions of approval for the north-south pipeline.
They have failed to provide by August 2010 an annual independently audited report of water savings.
Melbourne Water must comply with this condition before it can allocate and extract water from the Goulburn River via the north-south pipeline.
Water savings and their real availability from foodbowl modernisation have been a contentious issue since the inception of the project, yet the state government consistently and constantly fails to show transparency in its water policy agenda.
This shows an arrogant disregard for those whose livelihoods rely on the veracity of water savings.
Melbourne Water has requested a variation of the conditions of approval from the minister’s department, yet has failed to place this request in the public arena.
As all decisions regarding water savings potentially impact on thousands of food producers, Plug The Pipe demands that Melbourne Water be open and transparent with its request and that we have the right to voice our opinion on any variation of these conditions.
JAN BEER,
Plug The Pipe Spokeswoman, Yea
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