AUSTRALIA'S WATER IS NEITHER A POLITICAL NOR A CORPORATE RESOURCE
Public support is vital to our efforts. Please consider joining the large and rapidly-growing membership of Fair Water Use by registering your support.
Still proud to be Australian?
30th July 2010
Yesterday, as a nation, we joined the likes of the USA, UK and Canada in abstaining from registering a vote on a resolution tabled at the United Nations.
Ordinarily, this would be of little significance in itself, given the fact that the UN habitually requires members to vote on issues infused with polarised opinion. However, the motion under discussion was nothing as contentious as criticism of the activities of foreign military forces or the tightening of sanctions against rogue states.
In essence, the proposed UN resolution merely required member states to support “the right to safe and clean drinking water and sanitation as a human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of the right to life.”
Why therefore should any genuine democracy require more than a nanosecond to support such a worthy proposition?
Pre-eminent western economies exhibit little hesitation when it comes to stimulating consumption in developing countries, frequently under the guise of providing economic aid. However, in terms of efforts to protect and support fundamental rights, such as the right to water, these selfsame countries are suddenly reluctant to make any meaningful commitment.
The question must be asked: could the lack of support for the resolution
be related to the section which calls for countries and international
organisations to help by providing “financial resources, capacity
building and technology transfer"?
A range of meaningless comments have emerged from discussions surrounding this resolution. Among the most vacuous being the statement from the Canadian delegation that Canada already “recognizes there are linkages between access to safe drinking water and certain existing human rights obligations,” and supports further study on the issue of water as a right.
The Australian Government has exhibited a similar lack of basic humanity on the issue. Irrespective of the excuses proffered by our representatives, as Australians, we are now tarred with the same cynical brush.
Nearly two billion people live in water-stressed areas of the world and three billion have no running water within a kilometre of their homes. Every eight seconds, a child dies of water-borne disease, in every case preventable if their parents had money to pay for water. A recent World Bank report states that, by 2030, global demand for water will exceed supply by 40 percent.
Advance Australia fair?
Our worst fears confirmed
The Murray Darling Basin Authority has indicated that the floodwaters
arising from the record rainfall in the
Darling catchment earlier this year will not assist in alleviating the
plight of the Lower Lakes and Coorong.
National State of Emergency Commission and National Commission of Inquiry
TERMS OF REFERENCE RELEASED
In response to the ongoing crisis, Fair Water Use commissioned Consultants in Quality Pty Ltd to draft terms of reference for both a National State of Emergency Commission (SOE) and a National Public Commission of Inquiry into the Murray-Darling crisis (NPCI).
Gross value of agricultural commodities and related irrigation data 2005-2006*
* All calculations based on data obtained from the Australian Bureau of Statistics
Water Use
National
(Billion litres)
Value
National
($ AU)
Litres irrigated / $ AU generated
(National)
Water Use
Murray Darling
(Billion litres)
All commodities
< 11,000
37.3 billion
295
7,400
All crops
7,850
19.6 billion
400
5,400
Cotton
> 1,730
< 1 billion
1828
> 1,500
Rice
> 1,250
1/4 billion
4569
>1,250
Non-rice grains
< 700
7.4 billion
228
< 625
Wheat
5.1 billion
"When the Big Gum Falls"
A new acoustic version of the CD single that we have been promoting for the last few months is now available for free download, thanks to the generosity of publisher and FWU supporter, Black Cockatoo Music, which has donated the song to help us continue and expand our efforts, advocating revision of the management of the Murray-Darling, based on a genuine care for its environment. The lyrics appear at the foot of this posting.
Advocating environmentally-responsible use of Murray-Darling water
Fair Water Use (Australia) is a lobby group formed by everyday Australians who share the vision of a revived Murray-Darling basin and the sustainable environmental, community and economic benefits that would flow from its recovery.
