FED:Govt to push ahead with basin plan=2

AAP General News (Australia)
12-07-2010
FED:Govt to push ahead with basin plan=2

Ms Gillard said the federal government was focused on achieving good environmental,
social and economic outcomes for communities which rely on the river system.

"The aim of these reforms (is) to ensure that we have a healthy river, we've got food
production and we've got viable regional communities," she said.

In the meantime, the commonwealth would continue to buy water from willing sellers.

Ms Gillard said she had confidence in the legal advice she had received around the
basin reform plan, and the government's interpretation of the Water Act.

The prime minister was optimistic about achieving the reforms.

"I think Australians are saying ... that this is a reform the time for which has come," she said.

"I think Australians will judge very harshly any leader, any government, who lets this
reform moment go by."

Ms Gillard thanked Mr Taylor for the persistence and openness he showed by attending
meetings with regional Australians who were often angry, distressed or confused about
the basin's future.

"I am a very big respecter of people who put their time and energy into public service,"

she said.

"Mr Taylor has done that ... in circumstances where it wasn't easy."

The authority has recommended returning 3000 to 4000 gigalitres of water to the river
system each year.

Mr Taylor said balancing the requirements of the Water Act against the potential social
and economic impact on communities was a major challenge.

"The authority has sought, and obtained, further confirmation that it cannot compromise
the minimum level of water required to restore the system's environment on social or economic
grounds," he said.

A sustainable plan for the basin would require more than an authority decision on how
much water should be transferred from human uses to the environment, he added.

"While the authority has an important part to play, it is neither empowered nor equipped
to undertake the entire complex task."

Mr Taylor said addressing all the environmental, economic and social issues around
the basin plan should start now.

The process shouldn't be delayed by a key authority report, due at the end of 2011,
because it would lead to increased community concern and investment uncertainty in rural
areas, he said.

Mr Taylor urged the federal government to reconsider the next phase of Murray-Darling
Basin planning.

AAP bsb/rl/jsh

KEYWORD: MURRAY UPDATE 2 CANBERRA

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