On the eve of the Murray-Darling Basin plan it has been revealed that the biggest infrastructure program in the Basin, the northern Victoria food bowl project, has been beset by special deals between Labor mates and riven with conflicts of interest. This must have been the Labor theme for the day.
This is a very ominous sign on the release of the draft Murray-Darling basin plan. On a day they endorsed the character of a member of Opposition, above any of their own, to be speaker of the House, shows that they are truly a dysfunctional, Pythonseque aberration, stumbling head over heels and sinking. For us, unfortunately, the future of all Australians is their responsibility.
Labor can’t install ceiling insulation without setting fire to hundreds of homes, they can’t build school halls without billons of waste, they disposed of their Prime Minister, and if we search between the lines, we find that they have disposed of their own Speaker, they refused to endorse the character of any of their members to the premier high office of Speaker, the position that greets the Queen, preferring instead the Liberal-National member for Fisher, and they have sent our nation hurtling towards its third debt ceiling as they are now $217 billion in gross debt.
This is the same Green-Labor Independent alliance that 2.1 million people will have to rely on to protect their socio-economic future as supported by the Murray-Darling basin plan. How can people trust them? In fact, how can we even believe them anymore?
It’s been almost five years since the last Coalition government announced its plan for the Murray-Darling. We put aside almost $6 billion for priority investment to upgrade Australia’s irrigation network.
Instead, Labor has spent over $1.5 billion on non-strategic water buybacks and only $250 million on investments in infrastructure that actually deliver more water for the environment and communities in the Basin.
For every 1 bucket of water the government has saved through investment in infrastructure they have bought back 24 buckets.
Over $2 billion has been allocated to projects which have nothing to do with delivering water to the environment, including over $200 million for the bureaucratic expenses of its water manager and the expenses of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, and $8 million for an advertising campaign on the Murray-Darling.