07-January-2011
Portfolio Media Releases
THE HON. TONY ABBOTT MHR, LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
THE HON. ANDREW ROBB MHR,
SHADOW MINISTER FOR FINANCE AND DEBT REDUCTION
The floods in Queensland and New South Wales have raised obvious questions about better protecting people from water damage while improving catchment management. For two decades, governments have neglected serious options for further dam and major water infrastructure projects. Now is the time to start the focus on securing the economic and social future of regional communities and our country more generally.
Australia doesn’t have a rainfall problem as much as a water management problem. At the peak of the current floods, for instance, more than twice Sydney Harbour’s volume of fresh water has been passing Rockhampton every day.
Taxpayer funded infrastructure spending should be sensibly and strategically targeted towards projects that will enhance our economic future. Dam building and expansion could mean opportunities for local economies, more jobs and improved water management in the Murray Darling basin and elsewhere.
Managed the right way, a dam is a flood mitigation device, a potential provider of zero emissions power, and a source of environmental flows in dry times as well as means of better water security for farmers. Many potential dam sites have serious problems. It’s hard to believe, though, that there are no major dam sites left where economic and social benefits don’t outweigh environmental concerns.
The Coalition will set up a taskgroup of the Hon. Andrew Robb MP (as chairman), Senator Barnaby Joyce, the Hon Greg Hunt MP and Senator Simon Birmingham to develop a plan focusing on these specific issues and will consult in coming months with the community, relevant stakeholders and experts. This will be an important part of deepening our policy engagement with the general public and will form the basis of the policy the Coalition takes to the next election. It will build on the Coalition’s recent election commitment to provide up to $500 million towards increasing Australia’s water harvesting capacity including through new and expanded dams.
The floods have also highlighted the need for the Government to deliver a good plan for the Murray Darling Basin, unlike the proposed plan that has been released. Regional Australia deserves to have the right plan put in place to ensure its economic and social future just as much as the environment deserves a sustainable solution.
Taxpayer funded spending on infrastructure should be targeted to those projects that will drive economic growth, deliver jobs and investment to the community as well as address real and pressing problems. Only government can ensure Australia’s water future. This should be at least as important a priority for government spending as broadband, for instance, which can mostly be delivered through competition between private sector businesses.