Two million people live in the basin. Not all are farmers, not all farmers are irrigators, not everyone is dependent on farming for their well being, not all regions are equally affected and not all impacts of water reform will be adverse, writes Brian Ramsay of Inovact Consulting.
READ MOREOctober, 2010
David Suzuki: Legacy Tour
According to David Suzuki last night at the Opera House, humanity is in the 59th minute, and we’re on a suicidal path of economic growth. He gives us an example from science – a test tube full of bacteria – to illustrate the non-negotiable laws of nature and how we’re breaking them. Suzuki tells us [...]
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Was this Copenhagen all over again?
Phillip Ireland writes: The climate negotiations came to a close last week in China. This was the final meeting before the crucial conference in Cancun, Mexico. The closing plenary of the talks was not without drama. Delayed for over an hour head negotiators huddled around the hall desperately seeking common ground. Puzzled faces around the [...]
READ MOREMurray Murmurings: The costs of business as usual
Professor Rupert Quentin Grafton, director of Centre for Water Economics, Environment and Policy, writes: Water reform needs to include the knowledge, skills and leadership in Basin communities to develop new futures and support vital services needed for thriving communities. This not only requires political leadership and funding from Canberra and the States, it demands that [...]
READ MOREMurray Murmurings: What happens when two extremist ideologies meet
Tony Kevin writes: Farmer David Furphy’s comparison is apt: Australian city dwellers would certainly resent it if a Government-commissioned report was put out for public discussion, recommending that one third of their electricity supply, or one third of their suburban road network, should be closed down. Irrigated agriculture systems, like electric grids and city road [...]
READ MOREMurray Murmurings: A reasonable and rational national discussion please
This is part of Rooted series from different interested parties — farmers, lobby groups, environmentalists, etc — discussing their reactions to the guide of the draft Murray-Darling Basin Plan and the community consultations surrounding it, called Murray Murmurings. If you’d like to contribute your thoughts, email ajamieson[at]crikey.com.au Andrew Gregson, CEO of the NSW Irrigators Council, [...]
READ MOREClimate campaign follows the money
While the political debate about a global treaty and a price on carbon continues to rage, the campaign for climate action is refusing to take ‘maybe’ for an answer. Increasingly, campaign groups around the world are targetting the money behind pollution to try to stop a new generation of polluting energy infrastructure from being financed [...]
READ MOREBiodiversity: as big as climate change, but not as sexy
Vjekoslav Matic writes: Everybody has heard about climate change, but how many people have heard about biodiversity, or know exactly what biodiversity is? What about the important UN conference on biodiversity that starts today in Nagoya, Japan? According to a recent poll by the UK’s Natural History Museum only 12% of those surveyed know what [...]
READ MOREMurray Murmurings: It’s no wonder rural people are angry
It’s not surprising that farmers, business people and community members are scared and angry about the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s plan. Water is everything in these communities, says Shepparton farmer David Furphy.
READ MOREMurray Darling murmurings
On Tuesday night I had dinner with two ex-Murray River vegetable farmers (conventional) and two owners of an organic grocery store here in Melbourne, but who grew up on the Murray. We were debating the night’s SBS Insight program Organic or Not. It was a fascinating episode, involving lots of conventional and organic farmers and [...]
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