The Coorong needs water now!

The Wilderness Society (SA) Inc
Media Release
1 August 2008

Rally on SA Parliament House steps - 'Save the Coorong' - 1 August 2008

The Lower Murray Lakes and Coorong area has been starved of water for so long that it is almost dead.

Listed under the RAMSAR convention as a wetland of international significance, Australia is failing dismally in its obligation to protect this iconic part of the world.

We have known for a decade or more that the amount of water pumped out of the Murray Darling Basin for irrigation is completely unsustainable and needs to be reduced.

Despite all the talking by governments, very little has been done and we are now dealing with an environmental disaster and political embarrassment of international proportions.

The Rudd Government has committed billions of dollars to buy water from the irrigation industry and return it to the river system.

This money must be spent immediately.

For every month of delays, our precious Coorong, that Colin Thiele’s book Storm Boy immortalized, gets sicker and sicker.  If it dies, a special part of Australia’s identity dies too.

An obvious place to start is the release of 100s of gigalitres held in the Menindee Lakes, letting it flush through the river to the Lower Lakes and Coorong.

There are 100s, in fact 1000s of gigalitres currently held behind dams and weirs. The argument that there is no water in the basin is a political furphy.

The Federal Government blaming the States, or the States blaming each other can no longer be used as an excuse, as today we have wall to wall Labor Governments in power.

A unique opportunity now exists to fix this problem, it simply requires the political will to do so…Mr Rann, Mr Rudd, the Australian Labor Party…please save the Coorong!

Media Opportunity: Rally Parliament House Steps 11.30am