Policy and politicians are failing our environment and our future

You probably had a lovely shower this morning before you sat down to read the paper. Imagine if, when you turned the tap, the water that came out stank. That’s life for people in Menindee and surrounding areas right now.

Dead and dying animals including sheep, goats and
 kangaroos can be seen stuck in the mud as the
Menindee Lakes dries out, as seen in this drone image
 taken on January 10.CREDIT:

Politicians from every state and federal parliament should be at Menindee to experience the stench of policy failure, because it is the mismanagement of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, not the drought, that is the true culprit for the toxic mess in Australia’s greatest river system.

It’s not just the odour that’s offensive. It should be inconceivable that a $13 billion water reform developed in response to drought has failed at its first drought. The fury and distress of farmers Rob McBride and Dick Arnold, as they held the rotting corpses of two enormous and iconic Murray cod, was palpable and it is a fury every Australian should share.

Federal and state governments have used taxpayers’ money to effectively make the problem worse. In the next few weeks the federal Coalition government will use taxpayers’ money to make another environmental and economic policy mistake that will burden future generations: refurbishing or building a new gas or coal-fired power station. Fortunately, it’s not too late to stop that disaster – but more on that mess later.

Read the story from The Sydney Morning Herald by Ebony Bennett - “Policy and politicians are failing our environment and our future.”