TYPHOON IN THE PHILIPPINES

My good friend and Networker Sylvia is a Filipina and sent me the following pictures.

PLEASE NOTE:

Caritas Australia is accepting donations to provide emergency aid. 

To make a donation please call 1800 024 413.

This is a letter from the Philippines Ambassador to Australia
Click to enlarge.
If additional enlargement required try Control ++

CONTACT: Oxfam International

Laurelle Keough (international media) on +66 86 530 8394, laurellek@oxfam.org.au

Uamdao Noikorn (regional media) on +66 81 855 3196, unoikorn@oxfam.org.uk

Flooding in the Philippines Highlights Urgency of Climate Leadership

Climate change is already affecting South-East Asia

LONDON - September 28 - The worst flooding the Philippines has seen in decades highlights the urgent need for US leadership to push UN climate change negotiations in Bangkok forward to help ensure the best chance of securing a global climate treaty in Copenhagen.

In the Philippines, with many dead and 330,000 displaced by flooding in Manila, climate-related factors are blamed for an increased burden on the health budget, which is struggling to keep up with increased cases of nutritional deficiencies and diseases such as dengue, malaria and cholera.

Oxfam research shows that the number of people affected by climate crises is projected to rise by 54 per cent to 375 million over the next six years, threatening the world's ability to respond.

Oxfam International Senior Climate Policy Adviser Antonio Hill said the content of the new US Climate Change and Energy Bill due to be introduced in the Senate this week, and moves from US officials in Bangkok from today, would provide a stronger picture of whether the US was willing to step up and provide the momentum desperately needed in the negotiations.

Mr Hill said recent announcements by British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and the EU on climate financing, and Japan and China's stronger language last week on emissions reductions and finance, would put extra pressure on the US to step up and signal its intentions on its role in a global deal.

"Despite good intentions and warm words over the past six months, the US didn't deliver real leadership last week at the UN Climate Summit and G20.  Either the US lifts its game, or the next two weeks in Bangkok could go down as just a holding pattern before a fatal nosedive in Copenhagen," he said.

He said while many key countries, including China, India, Japan, the African Union, the Least Developed Countries and the Alliance of Small Island States, had shown they were ready to enter the final, more detailed phase of negotiations, intransigence on the part of rich countries like the US, Canada and Australia was proving an obstacle to progress.

Key sticking points remain the emissions reductions developed countries are willing to deliver - current commitments are around 15 per cent instead of the science-based 40 per cent reductions on 1990 levels by 2020 - and the amount of financing they will put on the table for developing countries to both adapt to the impacts of climate change and develop on a low carbon pathway.

The two-week negotiations, held in South-East Asia, one of the world's most vulnerable regions to climate change, is the penultimate negotiation session before Copenhagen in December, when a fair and safe global climate change treaty must be secured.

Mr Hill said that whilst last week's summits in the US were forums for world leaders to signal their intentions, the UN negotiating process continuing in Bangkok was the only place where countries could forge an agreement to avoid catastrophic climate change.

"It's crunch time," Mr Hill said.  "What is needed for a breakthrough is a clear commitment from developed countries - responsible for three-quarters of the carbon in the atmosphere - to commit to substantial finance, additional to existing aid levels, to developing countries."

Climate change is already affecting South-East Asia:  extreme weather events such as heat waves, droughts, floods and tropical cyclones have increased in frequency and intensity in recent decades, exacerbating water shortages, hampering agricultural production and threatening food security, causing forest fires and coastal degradation, and increasing health risks.

Mr Hill said a study in Thailand found that aquaculture farmers in Bang Khu Thian were spending an average of US$3,130 per household every year to protect their farms from coastal erosion and flooding between 1993 and 2007 - a fourth of annual household income.

"Once developing countries have confidence about the scale of resources rich countries are prepared to negotiate, then they can turn their attention to how they might achieve emissions reductions in their own countries, and work can begin on how a global climate fund could operate.  These detailed negotiations must not be left till the eleventh hour in Copenhagen," he said.

Mr Hill said it was crucial that this finance be over and above existing aid commitments otherwise decades of development gains would be reversed and millions more people would be plunged deeper into poverty.

He said the Copenhagen framework also needed to help enable smallholder farmers make agriculture resilient to climate impacts and achieve emissions reductions from the sector.

Notes to editors

Oxfam calculates that at least US $150 billion is needed to help people in developing countries adapt to the escalating impacts of climate change and reduce their emissions, and proposes a fair and transparent global fund operated through the UN system.

The Asian Development Bank estimates that for Indonesia, Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam as a whole, the cost of adaptation for the agriculture and coastal zones (mainly for the construction of sea walls and development of drought and heat-resistant crops) will be about US $5 billion per year by 2020 on average.

Investment in adaptation will pay off, with the annual benefit in terms of avoided damage from climate change likely to exceed the annual cost after 2050.

For the next two weeks, Oxfam will have policy experts and spokespeople in Bangkok from countries including Indonesia, Bangladesh, Germany, Spain, the US, the Philippines, Cambodia, Thailand, Malawi, Australia and New Zealand.  We can arrange interviews in a range of languages.

Events throughout the two weeks organised by civil society groups including Oxfam include:

Thursday 1 October:

Women's Rally, Bangkok, 11am - 1pm (Rachadamnoen Road and around the UNESCAP building)

Celebrities including Miriam Quiambao (Philippines) and Oppie Andaresta (Indonesia) will join with hundreds of women from across the region to raise awareness of the disproportionate impact climate change has on women;

Tuesday 6 October:

Asian People's Climate Court, Bangkok, 9am - 11am

People from countries including Thailand, Bangladesh, Philippines, Indonesia and Nepal will tell their personal stories of how climate change is affecting them now, in front of a judge and panel of experts.

Interviews are available.

###

Oxfam International is a confederation of 13 like-minded organizations working together and with partners and allies around the world to bring about lasting change. Oxfam works directly with communities and that seeks to influence the powerful to ensure that poor people can improve their lives and livelihoods and have a say in decisions that affect them.

---

Oxfam International Links:

• Home
• Press Center
• Action Center

Further Reading:
BANNER STORY: President warns hoarders
Shared via AddThis
RP seeks typhoon aid, battles to avoid backlash
Philippine Embassy, Canberra, Australia
Philippines typhoon: Caritas responds

RON MERKEL QC ON THE NT INTERVENTION IN THE HIGH COURT

Click to enlarge

Monday 5 October, 6.30 pm: Public Lecture:  Hon Ron Merkel, QC, will speak about his experiences in challenging the NT Intervention in the High Court, as well as the takeover of Alice Springs Town Camps in the Fed Court this year. Room GO8, University of Melbourne Law School. Register free at http://www.mulss.com/social.justice/

FLOW (for love of water) AT FRANKSTON 30 SEPT

Wednesday 30 September, 7.30 pm: Film Screening: For the Love of Water (Flow). Is water a human right? Maud Barlow and Dr Vendana Shiva will discuss the global impacts of water privatisation. Uniting Church, 16 High St, Frankston. Organised by Friends of Frankston. For more info ph 8774 8170 or email richardlaverack@hotmail.com  


Irena Salina's award-winning documentary investigation into what experts label the most important political and environmental issue of the 21st Century - The World Water Crisis.

Salina builds a case against the growing privatization of the world's dwindling fresh water supply with an unflinching focus on politics, pollution, human rights, and the emergence of a domineering world water cartel.

Interviews with scientists and activists intelligently reveal the rapidly building crisis, at both the global and human scale, and the film introduces many of the governmental and corporate culprits behind the water grab, while begging the question 'CAN ANYONE REALLY OWN WATER?'

Beyond identifying the problem, FLOW also gives viewers a look at the people and institutions providing practical solutions to the water crisis and those developing new technologies, which are fast becoming blueprints for a successful global and economic turnaround. 

End of the line: come and see the movie about oceans and a world without fish

Premiere screening 

"The end of the line"

Hunted almost to extinction in the 19th century, the endangered Australian Sea Lion is still being caught today as by-catch in shark fishing nets. This iconic marine mammal along with many other species will benefit from a network of large marine sanctuaries in South Australian and adjacent commonwealth waters. 

Photo: Valerie Taylor.

Join us 

at this special film screening

The ultimate power of ‘The End of the Line’ is that it moves beyond doomsday rhetoric to proffer real solutions. Chillingly topical, ‘The End of the Line’ drives home the message: theclock is ticking, and the time to act is now.

Premiered at Sundance Film Festival this year, the powerful new film The End of the Line uses brilliant underwater footage, sweeping cinematography and interviews with world leading scientists, activists and fishermen to tell the story of the devastating impacts of overfishing on our oceans and the simple solutions to the problem.

Where: Capitol Theatre - 113 Swanston Street, Melbourne.

When: Friday 2 October - Doors open 6:30pm, Film @ 7pm

Bookings essential:  bookings@green-pictures.com

Entry: $10 Adult, $6 Concession & students, Under 16 free.

This promotional screening is brought to you by The Wilderness Society and Save our Marine life

Visit the official website of the film The End of the Line to find out more.

For more information, please contact:

Campaign Coordinator

The Wilderness Society Victoria Inc

288 Brunswick St

Fitzroy, Vic, 3065

Phone: 03 9038 0888

Questions and Answers with Rob Hulls, Attorney-General, Victoria

Further to my previous post here, this is the follow up.

Here is the question I asked Rob Hulls with his reply on the Live Q&A.

2:47

[Comment From Miss Eagle] Rob, I am concerned about water trading and the way such a precious resource has now become a casino leading to haves and have nots. I understand it came about because of a COAG decision. How can we legally get out of this mess whereby we unbundled land from water and get land and water connected again?

2:48

Rob Hulls:  Water unbundling is an important reform that has given irrigators more options to manage their way through the drought, whether by supplementing low allocations, by buying more water, or selling water they don't need, or for cash flow. The drought impacts on individual irrigators would be much more severe if they did not have this flexibility. ~~~~~~~ Now I thought this was a bit ho-hum to say the least.  The response displayed no depth of understanding of the issue and was a fob-off in tune with the party line.  Here is what some others thought. That great Networker and Landscaper Ed said: It's Victorian government spin again.  The purpose of unbundling water from land is to create a new economy, using our commonly owned water for their and corporate profits.  It does not solve the real issues facing farmers, who (especially the small farm enterprisers) are price takers and not price makers. Mr Hulls' spin rides right over the issues that have put farmers in this position - He does not acknowledge Overallocation of water by the States and especially by Victoria, much of which still is held as sleeper licences still able to be activated. The disconnection between people who own water rights without owning or managing land, which necessarily leads to further misuse of water and water rights. The environmental devastation which is occurring now, land and water unbundling occurs, leading away from stewardship of our natural resources. Failure of Victorian government to initiate and continue upgrading of infrastructure which it was their charter to do under the Water Act since that infrastructure was created. Failure by Victorian government to respond in kind and in concert with the enormous advances farmers made in response to successive industry restructures in farm enterprises dependent on irrigation water. Failure by Victorian government to complement their research organisations, which had farmers striding forward with irrigation efficiency advances, so that their irrigation efficiency is just about at peak levels for the kinds of irrigation they carry out. Failure of the Victorian government to do the right thing by farmers and help pay for the next stage of irrigation water use efficiency, which is to lay drip line ($20,000/ha) under pasture and many other forms of agricultural production. Failure of the Victorian government to sufficiently insist on changing inefficient irrigation land use to the most efficient protein producing enterprises for irrigation. - The kind of land use most suitable and efficient depends on a range of conditions, such as soil type, water table levels, markets and so on. Failure of the Victorian government to do its due diligence on the level and cost/benefit of the irrigation infrastructure upgrades that they have started (only 1% or so of which is completed). Failure of the Victorian government to have independent auditing done of both financial and water efficiency targets and achievements. Failure of the Victorian government to honor its commitments to restoring the Snowy River environmental flows. Failure of the Victorian government to honor its responsibility to flush the Murray following the recent blue green algae outbreak. Failure of the Victorian government to do due diligence on the water meter issue, which has now turned to a debacle, at great taxpayer cost, because the new electronic water meters cannot function accurately in dirty water. The new water meters giving readings of water use where there is no water use happening. Failure of the Victorian government to be transparent and proactive in detailing the environment and energy costs of it big projects, e.g. North-South Sugarloaf Pipeline, Bendigo Ballarat superpipe and Waranga basin low level pumping, and water diversions from Lake Nagambie to Waranga Basin. Failure of the Victorian government to even mention or admit that it has another sizeable pipeline recently put in from the Goulburn River at Trawool to take more water out of the Goulburn River to Broadford and Wallan, and thence to the water network which will end with water going all the way to the new suburbs it is creating in the Melbourne and Geelong super metropolis. Failure of the Victorian government to meaningfully recognise that the Goulburn Heritage River system is in such a degraded condition that the extraction of any water out of it for use in coastal cities will kill the future of the river and place a series of nails in the Murray River system. Ed Adamson DipAg MEnvSc Merrijig 3723 And from the indefatigible Maria in Mildura That is the pat answer they all give when asked about unbundling! The same question was asked at the water information forum in Mildura on Tuesday and the same answer given.  They do not seem to understand that it is NOT the drought that is the issue - we can deal with drought: it is the fact that the Murray-Darling Basin water system is over-allocated and with every drop being able to be sold, the market that they so praise has caused the over-allocation to be exacerbated. Previously not all water was used and it was left in the river (thought some of it might have been used elsewhere) and sleeper licenses were not an issue. When they put the cap on the MDB they capped it using a wet year as the ill-considered reference point instead of being cautious and calculating in a drought! In fact when they put the cap on the drought was already on its way! (as we now CSIRO has said the drought has been going for 15 years-or it climate change?) He has also forgotten that with cities and urban areas getting into the market, this prevents and discourages policies and strategies and actions that encourage more environmentally sustainable options being utilized and being adopted. This is short-sighted politically motivated response instead of long-term environmentally sustainable options. As the Commissioner for Environmental Sustainability has stated in his State of the Environment Report 2008 (December and summary attached): “Victoria is living beyond its resource means.” This includes water. I went to the Victorian Green paper on Climate Change info session Wednesday night and basically it can be boiled down to one main consideration: population growth. Until governments and communities understand that if we don’t curb population growth (keep Australia to 17 million-some professor was talking about this exact problem on radio National this morning) consumption of resources will only increase. How can it not? More people mean that they will demand more resources. In order to maintain a healthy natural environment we need to limit population growth world-wide as any other action such as cutting greenhouse gases etc is almost impossible if we do not consider that a glass can only be emptied and filled to a certain level before it runs out or over flows. Those are just SOME of my thoughts. Again if you don’t have a copy get a copy of ‘Water Resources Law’ by Alex Gardner, Richard Bartlett and Janice Gray (LexisNexis Butterworth 2009) which is fantastic as a resource book and explains it all. It might seems costly but think of the hours of research! Well worth it. I am finding it enlightening!

Multifaith in Melbourne

Last week was Multifaith Week in Melbourne.

On Sunday morning, I attended the Sikh Gurdwara at Blackburn

as a guest of my friend Jessiee Kaur Singh.

To find out more about Sikhism go here.

It was a beautiful experience.

The shrine pictured above contains the holy scripture entitled the Gurū Granth Sāhib

People come in (queues are separate for men and women and they sit separately),

place coins in a large receptacle, bow/kneel and go to their place of prayer.

Large screens are either side of the shrine with excerpts of the scripture

which are chanted.

The scriptures are displayed in the language of the Sikhs,

then in English, and then phonetically.

It was easy to chant along with the rest of the congregation.

Providing music and leading the chanting

are the three men pictured below.

The man behind the holy scripture read from the scripture.

There were announcements - but not in English, sadly.

And then little girls came around with boxes of tissue.

We took one and then a man came around with dollops of

sweet mixture from a bowl.  "Healing" whispered Jessiee.

A different take on Communion, thought I, since the Sacrament can

also be taken as Healing. 

Before the service I had seen people "laying the table" in a manner of speaking for lunch.

Each place was laid with a metal compartmentalised tray, a metal cup, and a spoon.

I counted sixteen places across eighteen rows.

But when I came from the service I found that there were a couple more rows.

Then where we ate was at tables.

It looks like the place settings go on forever.

I estimated that there were about 400 to 500 people fed at this sitting.

Apparently, about 5000 meals are served a week on

Wednesdays and Sundays.

Although, if people come to the Gurdwara and need

food on other days, they will be provided for.

Needless to say, with such crowds hand-washing

is important and extensive hand-washing facilities are provided.

All this happens by donation and helpers are on a rotation roster.

I spoke to a group of women relaxing after their morning roster.

They do the last Sunday of the month.

As you can see from the list of needs above, all this is donated.

~~~~

After our meal, we went across to the Darebin Parklands

for an Aboriginal tree-planting ceremony.

Pictured above are Jessie Kaur Singh of

GreenFaith Australia, COMMON, and the Global Dialogue Foundatio;

Reg Blow of the Maya Healing Centre; and John Bellavance of

Voices for Peace.

The Mayor of Darebin, Councillor Diana Asmar,

was a beautiful and impressive woman

as she commemorated and committed the

Peace Tree to the earth.

Uncle Reg prays for the tree with the didj.

NORTH SOUTH PIPELINE MADNESS, FLOODPLAIN AND WETLAND IGNORANCE

Networker Ellen Hogan has forwarded this letter from Jan Beer of Plug the Pipe:

The photos below were taken today, 27-9-09 and show minor flooding in the Yea River and over the Yea river wetlands/floodplain area, where the North-South Pipeline and easement crosses the wetlands.   The Governments own environmental studies undertaken prior to construction suggested avoiding such flood prone areas, but ignorance is bliss for this Government.

As you can see the easement has only been re-instated in the last few weeks, and the likelihood now is that much of the topsoil, particularly where the current is strong, has been washed downstream.

I would like to know what the mitigation plans are in this area and the many other areas upstream along the Yea River that would now have had crucial topsoil washed away.   I have failed to find any such mitigation plans, or indeed re-instatement plans, in the EMP's should flooding occur.

All I can say is "bloody idiots". They have just hoped like hell it didn't rain during construction, and have had no idea of the extent of flooding that can occur in the Yea River, even though they were informed in the Project Impact Hearing that flooding has and does occur in any month of the year in the Yea River Catchment.

As a farmer with 8 kilometres of Yea River frontage I can assure you that to have bare earth on the wetlands/floodplains in Spring is particularly stupid.

They have been extremely fortunate that this is only a very minor flood.

To be quite honest we have practically given up on making the proponent of this project accountable for their actions in any way , shape or form. It's all just  so many meaningless words, that the Victorian Government in this case, seem to be able to interpret as they please, or are given the opportunity to negotiate.

It seems to us that the Victorian Government have used every legal loophole possible, and taken the liberty of interpreting the Minister's Conditions of Approval to suit their own strategies. This is not how the ordinary layperson feels the EPBC Act should be used. It is basically in place to protect our environment, and in this case we have all  been let down.

We have a major pipeline infrastructure, which may soon divert 75 Billion litres from Victoria's biggest river, and we still have  had no assessment of the impact it will have on ANY areas downstream of national environmental significance.

The Goulburn is Victoria's largest tributary to the Murray, which no longer flows to its natural mouth in the ocean, yet unbelievably Minister Garrett still refuses to call in the FoodBowl Referral.

My faith in the due and proper process of Government is failing fast.

Who will monitor and assess any damage caused by flooding and from where  topsoil will be replaced, as the origin of any foreign topsoil could impact on downstream landowners.

Also did they have any mitigation plans in place for flooding, other than Minister Holding using his Ministerial powers to hold back the floodwaters?  Well, it seems he has the power to do absolutely anything!!!!                                        

Jan Beer

Plug The Pipe Spokesperson Yea Group

                                                                                         

Compassion and Karen Armstrong

Karen Armstrong speaks on Compassion here.

Help Karen Armstrong to write The Charter for Compassion

DUST WATCH INTERIM REPORT: 22-23 SEPTEMBER

This report has come to The Network

courtesy of that great Networker, Activist & Environmental Researcher

Maria Reidl of Mildura, Victoria.

Thank you Maria.

And thank you to the DustWatch Team in Gunnedah, NSW.

The Network would welcome any similar reports from across the country.

I commend the work of this group because it highlights not only the agricultural and economic impact of this disaster, but the social and health aspects as well.  

In fact, for many Australians, it has impacted every part of their lives this week.

I don't know what to say, except that some of us are thinking of the realities faced by many Australians across the nation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

DustWatch interim report 22-23September

Prepared by John Leys and the DustWatch Team, Gunnedah

Dust storms have been occurring regularly in western NSW and around Lake Eyre in South Australia for the last two months.

Dust is from drought-affected areas in Western NSW and the eastern Lake Eyre Basin. It is not from the Riverina as reported.

We are losing about 75,000 tonnes of dust per hour off the NSW coast north of Sydney.

This information is sourced from the DustWatch community- based monitoring project. This has and is being funded by NHT, Caring for our Country (C4oC), from grants from Lower Murray Darling, Murray and Lachlan Catchment Management Authorities plus in-kind contributions from all inland CMAs. The project is supported by DECCW in NSW and nationally via Griffith University with funding from LandCare and C4oC.

Two Dust Storms

On Tuesday 22, a dust storm passed though Canberra (picture below) which was about 200km wide and came from the lower Lake Eyre Basin

(source: http://rapidfire.sci.gsfc.nasa.gov/subsets/index.php?subset=Australia5.2009265.terra.1km )

• The second dust storm started on Wednesday 23 and hit Sydney the same day. It started Tuesday 22 in South Australia (can be seen in the far west of the picture as a rolling dust storm) and arrived in eastern NSW on very strong (80-100km) westerly winds today.
• There is no satellite image for this dust storm at the time of writing.
• This storm is huge! We are losing about 75,000 tonnes of dust an hour off the NSW coast north of Sydney.
• Worst event since the 1960s.
• The event extends from the Queensland border down to the Riverina. It missed Hay and the south west corner of the State.
• The dust results from low ground cover exacerbated by the extended drought and very high winds (80-90km/h).

Description of Dust Storm

The DustWatch community network has recorded the following events:

• Broken Hill: first storm Monday 3 hours duration – severe dust storm. Second storm Tuesday 6 hours duration - severe dust storm,
• Bourke: 6 hours duration – severe dust storm, started Tuesday night now finished
• Cobar: 12 hours duration, still going at 8am– severe dust storm
• Condobolin: 3 hours duration – severe dust storm, still going and dusty
• Coomba: 3 hours dust on Monday –moderate dust storm
• Cowra: 4 hours duration – severe dust storm, clearing now
• Dubbo: 6 hours duration – severe dust storm, and still going
• Gunnedah: 5 hours duration, still going on – severe dust storm and still going
• Hay: no dust storms
• Hillston: no data
• Ivanhoe: 2 hours duration – severe dust storm
• Lake Victoria: no dust storm
• Parkes: 4 hours duration – severe dust storm, clearing but still very dusty
• Menindee: 4 hours duration – severe dust storm and now clear
• Moree: 3 hours duration – severe, still going
• Temora: 1 hour duration - mandate dust storm, still hazy
• Tibooburra: 30 hours of dust –since Monday night! – two severe dust storms, finished midnight
• Walgett: 6 hours duration – severe and still going
• West Wyalong: 4 hours duration – moderate and clear now
• White Cliffs: 7 hours duration – severe dust storm and the dustiest place in the state!

Implications

• Soil loss from farming land
• Disruption to transport: airlines, motor cars, ferries
• Dust pollution, e.g. filters in air conditioners
• Health implications from fine particles
• Cancellation of sporting events – imagine if this happened on Saturday!
• Deposition to oceans of iron rich dust, like this dust, will cause phytoplankton blooms in oceans
• Dust on snow decreases aledo and makes glaciers melt faster
• Red, fine dust tends to warm the upper atmosphere so has impact on climate

Solutions

• Keep ground cover above 50% by using good land management practices
• Wind breaks and trees in the landscape

John Leys, Stephan Heidenreich and Mike Case

The DustWatch Team

Dr John Leys

DustWatch Southern Co-ordinator
Principal Research Scientist, 

Scientific Services Division, 

Department of Environment and Climate Change
PO Box 462, Gunnedah NSW 2380, AUSTRALIA
Ph +61 2 6740 2345 Fx +61 2 6742 3129
E-mail john.leys@environment.nsw.gov.au

DustWatch is funded by the Lower Murray Darling, Lachlan, and Murray CMAs, the Department of Environment, Climate Change and Water NSW and Griffith University.

Acknowledgements:

The MODIS image is courtesy of MODIS Rapid Response Project at NASA/GSFC, the fire data is courtesy of the Fire Information for Resource Management System (FIRMS) and the rainfall map of the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. This project would not be possible without the assistance of all the DustWatchers who provide observations and help with maintenance of the instruments at the DustWatch stations. We gratefully acknowledge their contribution.

Further reading:
East Coast Lows and Dust Storms

The Melbourne dust-storm of February 1983

Dust storm: unclear if climate change to blame

WATER: IS IT TOO TOUGH FOR THE BUREAUCRATS WHO APPEAR TO HAVE THE POWER OF KNOWLEDGE?

Thanks to Networker and Australian Water Network colleague Ellen Hogan for this information contained in a Media Release from Bill Sykes who is the National Party Member for Benalla in northern Victoria:

Friday 25 September 2009

BRUMBY’S TOP WATER BUREAUCRATS FAIL TO ANSWER THE TOUGH QUESTIONS

Serious flaws in the Brumby Government’s water savings estimates were highlighted on Wednesday after the government’s most senior water bureaucrats failed to answer questions during a parliamentary inquiry.

The Nationals Public Accounts and Estimates Committee (PAEC) representative Bill Sykes asked Department of Sustainability and Environment secretary Greg Wilson what impact a loss of water from northern irrigation districts would have on savings from irrigation upgrades.

Dr Sykes said 20 per cent of water entitlements had left the region over the past few years.

“Over the next four years, the Federal Government is expected to buy a further 20 per cent of entitlements in the Food Bowl through its $3.1 billion environmental water buyback,” Dr Sykes said.

“Compared with when the calculations for the expected water savings were done, within four or five years the volume of water right in the Food Bowl irrigation districts will have shrunk by at least 40 per cent.”

Dr Sykes said when the proposition was put to Mr Wilson he avoided answering the question.

“It appears the government’s most senior water officials have not considered the impact of water trading and the Commonwealth Government’s $3.1 billion environmental water buyback on water savings,” Dr Sykes said.

“Labor has claimed its modernisation projects, including stage 1 and 2 of the Food Bowl Modernisation Project, will save almost 520 billion litres of water.

“These estimates were considered over ambitious when there was 1600GL of water entitlement in the Food Bowl” he said.

“It is completely unrealistic to assume the same volume of water can be saved from a system with less than 1000 GL of water entitlement.”

Dr Sykes said Office of Water general manager David Downie and director Graeme Turner also failed to answer questions about key water projects.

“It’s time the Brumby Government came clean about the serious flaws in its calculations,” Dr Sykes said.

“It must release the full business plans for north south pipeline and the Food Bowl Modernisation Project so communities can judge the assumptions underpinning these projects for themselves.”

Media contact: Bill Sykes 0427 624 989