The Government is providing no confidence to communities of the Murray-Darling with weekly changes in the timetable for the release of the draft Basin Plan, Senator Joyce said today.
"A few weeks ago the draft was meant to be out in late July, then it was mid August, then mid-October and now, we find out this morning, sometime in November. It's another farce from a government that couldn't get fluffy stuff in the ceiling for the rats and mice to sleep on without burning down 190 homes.
"'Pens down' is apparently in October, but there is still no set date for the release of the report. First year university professors would impose higher disciplines on mid-term assignments than this government has on the MDBA.
"It’s now a race between who comes first: Santa or the draft Basin Plan.
"If the government can't provide people with confidence about something as basic as when a report will be released, then the people can have no confidence in them.
"We want to make sure we get this right but with all of these delays one has to question whether there are some serious disputes between those who want to put frogs and swamps before people and those who want to do the right thing.
"Is this delay just a veiled attempt to try to do the impossible and get these disparate groups on the same page?
"The news comes as reports revealed that the government has been using the $5.8 billion infrastructure fund, set up by the Howard Government, as a slush fund to cover the costs of bureaucrats and advertising campaigns.*
"Over $2 billion has been allocated to projects that have nothing to do with delivering more water into the Murray-Darling system. It looks like Labor will deliver pages of consultant reports but hardly any economic, social or environmental outcomes.
"The MDBA itself has already spent over $100 million producing just one report.
"That report was an unmitigated disaster which destroyed confidence in the Basin just as the end of the drought was providing some hope."