February 2007 Newsletter

It has certainly been an eventful start to the year!  The Prime Minister has reshuffled his Ministry and appointed me the Minister for The Environment and Water Resources . Ten days ago he made the most important policy statement on water in our nation's history. Read more about these stories and more below:

Prime Minister's $10 Billion Dollar Programme to Secure Australia's Water Future
Water Contingency Planning in the Southern Murray-Darling Basin
Australia Day in Wentworth
Opinion piece on the Australian Flag
Opinion piece on climate change report.
Charity Christmas Appeal
More Aged Care funding for Wentworth
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Minister for The Environment and Water Resources

Last Tuesday I was sworn in at Government House as the the Minister for The Environment and Water Resources. This department will include all of the water related agencies of the Australian Government including the Office of Water Resources and the National Water Commission.  I am very honoured by this appointment. Environmental issues including climate change and water scarcity are in the forefront of public concern - and rightly so. This new portfolio will enable me to continue my work on water in conjunction with closely related environmental responsibilities.

The Howard Government has led the way in ensuring a secure and sustainable water future for all Australians. But there is much to be done and I look forward to continuing to work with the Prime Minister and my colleagues on this important task.

Here in Wentworth we are passionate about the environment. I have had enormous assistance over the last year from our own community and I want to thank everyone for their help.

The complete announcement of the Prime Minister on the ministerial changes is here .

Prime Minister's $10 Billion Dollar Programme to Secure Australia's Water Future 

The Prime Minister has been, as Australian columnist Paul Kelly once wrote, "prescient" on water issues. He has promoted water reform through many avenues and over many years. But it has become increasingly clear that the way we have been tackling water reform is not moving fast enough. The Australian Constitution does not vest control of water resources in the Commonwealth and accordingly our attempts to promote more efficient and sustainable use of water has required co-operation and agreement with State Governments.

In some areas this has worked well, and certainly, relatively speaking our water management is far ahead many other countries. But as our times get hotter and drier and water becomes scarcer and more unpredictable we need to make sure that every drop counts. Most of our water that is used for human consumption or production is used in agriculture and particularly irrigated agriculture. Most of this irrigation is in the Murray Darling Basin, a vast area covering much of four states: New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia.

It has been very difficult and slow to achieve best practice in water management in the Murray Darling Basin; the four states are in effect competing with each other. It is a case of "same bed, but different dreams." And for many years Australians have wished that the founders of our Commonwealth had vested the control of the Murray Darling Basin in the hands of the Commonwealth. But it was always regarded as too hard to achieve.

The Prime Minister has taken this issue out of the "too hard" basket. His proposal, the full text of which is here , asks the States to refer their powers of water management in the Basin to the Commonwealth and at the same time commits $10 billion over ten years to promote irrigation efficiency both on and off farm as well as to acquire water for environmental purposes. The total package is aimed to ensure that the allocation between environment and agriculture is struck at a sustainable level. Better water security for irrigators in dry times and more water for the environment in other times will be achieved by this programme; the first time an Australian Government has had the vision and the courage to fix our most important surface and ground water system.

The Premiers have responded in a variety of ways, but the Prime Minister has invited them to a meeting this Thursday in Canberra to progress the matter. This is too urgent a priority to allow to bog down and I hope the Premiers will see the logic of the proposal,  not to speak of the very expensive burden it takes from their shoulders!

Water Contingency Planning in the Southern Murray-Darling Basin

As you will recall, last Melbourne Cup Day – November 7, the Prime Minister invited the Murray Darling Basin Premiers together for a meeting to consider the worsening situation in the lower Murray Darling Basin . Streamflows into the Murray River were at an all time low – at that time running about half their historic all time low. It was clear then that by the end of the irrigation system, April 2007, the major storages would be virtually empty. The prospects for 2007 were bleak in the absence of substantial rainfall. The water availability in 2007 would be no more than the inflows of that year.

The Prime Minister and Premiers agreed to a number of measures including the preparation of a contingency plan designed to ensure that we had the measures ready to deploy to ensure that water could be delivered to the communities along the river and in particular to the city of Adelaide which in a drought year draws more than 80% of its water from the Murray.

The contingency plan was announced on January 12 and more details are here . The major, engineering measures, including the building of a weir at Wellington in South Australia will not be deployed unless water scarcity remains tight.

Australia Day in Wentworth

It was a busy Australia Day in Wentworth. I represented the Australian Government at citizenship ceremonies at Waverley and Woollahra Councils. Photos from Woollahra Council are here

The new citizens were thrilled to become Aussies on our national day and as I said to them they honoured us by their decision to join our Australian family.

Our society is enriched by the diverse cultures, languages and customs of migrants and refugees who have come here from all parts of the globe. The common bond that unites us all is citizenship.

Opinion Piece on the Australian Flag

There is no better way to show our pride in Australia than by flying our Australian flag on Australia Day.

In keeping with this, I wrote an opinion piece in the Daily Telegraph and Wentworth Courier on the proposed banning of the flag at the Big Day Out which can be found here

As I wrote, "The more we emphasise our commonly held Australian values and symbols, the more we promote a better understanding of our values and our history, the more united our nation is."

Opinion Piece on Climate Change Report.

Last night in Paris the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released its Fourth Assessment Report. It represents the work of thousands of scientists from more than 130 countries and Australians played a leading role.

I wrote this opinion piece on the report and some of its implications. Click here .

Charity Christmas Appeal

I delivered a ute full of donated food to Wentworth charities as part of my annual Charity Christmas drive. See photos here

The donations of non-perishable food items exceeded past years and meant we could deliver more food than ever before to Norman Andrews House charity, shelter and drop-in centre in Bondi, and Cana Communities which runs shelters and homes in the Darlinghurst area.

I want to thank the Wentworth community for their donations which allowed us to reach out at Christmas time to those amongst us most in need.

More Aged Care funding for Wentworth 

Wentworth's older Australians and their families will benefit from the allocation of 46 new aged care places.

30 residential low care places have been allocated to the newly opened Sir Moses Montefiore Jewish Home in Randwick, where I recently conducted a tour and met with residents. See photos here

In addition six Extended Aged Care at Home (EACH) packages have been allocated to Anglican Retirement Villages and five EACH packages to the Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust, to run out of Clovelly and Bondi Junction. The Uniting Church in Australia Property Trust has also been allocated five Extended Aged Care at Home Dementia packages for Bondi Junction.

The Howard Government is providing more than $1,140,125.00 in annual recurrent funding to support the allocation of these new Wentworth places.

I am pleased that local aged care providers in Wentworth have embraced the Government's vision for a world class system of aged care and committed themselves to providing high-quality, affordable and accessible services to meet the individual needs and choices of older Australians. The standard of care provided at facilities such as the new Montefiore Home is nothing short of exceptional.

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