After the chief executive of the MDBA told Senate Estimates on Tuesday that the body had not put in place any plans to hold meetings across basin communities about the draft plan for the Basin, Water Minister Tony Burke has now given an assurance that there will be public meetings.

 

“I would like to thank almost 300 people who signed the petition on my website within an hour or so of it appearing to register their concern about this undemocratic process,” said Senator Joyce.

 

“While this is a step in the right direction, I will be holding the Minister to his assurance and making sure that he turns up to plenty of the meetings.

 

There is still a long way to go in this process and a great deal of uncertainty and fear that needs to be quelled before we can say that we have achieved a fair outcome for the 2.1million people who live and work in the Basin.”