News - Oct 2008
Cities, country water over war
Weekly Times, 17 October
THE Victorian Government's water policy will place the state's urban, environmental and agricultural sectors in competition and at risk, says CHRIS HARRISON
Official protection urged for species endangered by pipeline, dredging works
Date: October 17 2008, Peter Ker
The State Government's scientific advisory group has raised concerns over the plight of two species affected by the north-south water pipeline and the dredging of Port Phillip Bay.
Family feeling cursed as pipes strike three time
Peter Ker ,October 15, 2008, The Age
MALCOLM and Dianne Towt could be the unluckiest farmers in Victoria.
Senate reports on water
David McKenzie,October 15, 2008, The Weekly Times
GREENS, coalition and independent Senators have called for the Brumby Government's north-south pipeline plan to be scrapped.
Brumby's draft water plan confirms pipe folly
Monday, 13 October 2008
A draft water strategy produced by the Brumby Labor Government has thrown its argument for the north-south pipeline into disarray, The Nationals Member for Rodney Paul Weller said today.
Questions raised over pipeline consultation
14 Oct 2008, ABC
A Senate inquiry report is questioning why the Murray-Darling Basin Commission was not consulted about the north-south pipeline.
North South pipeline rally
Amercican Site, Darkness at Noon, 13 October
I just got the following email from Friends of the Earth. It just doesn’t make sense to take water from an already stained water system and pump it down to Melbourne. It’s a bandaid fix that won’t work and is stuck in 19th Century thinking.
Senate backs pipeline opposition
Media Release, Spokesperson Bob Brown, Monday 13th October 2008, 3:35pm
The Senate today passed a motion by Greens Leader Bob Brown:
"That the Senate-
(a) notes the arrest of a farmer in Victoria who opposed the Sugarloaf Pipeline, which is being forcibly constructed from the Goulburn Valley to Melbourne; and
(b) calls on the Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts
(Mr Garrett) to urgently reconsider his approval of this costly,
environmentally-unsound and controversial project."
The dangers at Lake Eildon!
Karl von Moller on October 12th, 2008
A film maker takes a look.
Northern Victoria in the grip of drought crisis
Wednesday, 8 October 2008, The Nationals
“Brumby and his Labor cronies are continuing to march over the top of innocent people in their desire to make the once famous food bowl of Australia a dust bowl.”
Urban-rural water divide
The Weekly Times, 7 October
The Victorian Government maintains the north-south pipeline is a vital component of Victoria’s emerging water grid. The use of the term “water grid” to describe the pipeline is a misnomer. The pipeline is a one way street. Water can flow in only one direction - from the Murray-Darling Basin to Melbourne.
North-south pipe plugged for theft
Peter Ker, October 6, 2008, The AGE
Moves to prevent water theft come as the Greens Party confirmed it would lobby the non-Government
parties in the Victorian Parliament's upper house to block Government attempts to formalise the pipe's water
entitlement.
The idea of piping water to Melbourne remains a hard sell in rural Victoria
Source: ABC News, Published:Monday, October 6, ABC VIDEO Link
The Government's plan to supplement Melbourne's dwindling water supplies with a pipeline over the great dividing range is a policy u-turn that was announced just months after the last state election. And it is designed to shore up city votes in the lead up to the next one.
Outcome of Eildon-Sugarloaf north-south pipeline will be anything but sweet
Kenneth Davidson, Date: October 06 2008, The Age
PLAN in haste, repent at leisure. The Government's failure to follow proper process in the design of the Eildon-Sugarloaf north-south pipeline means it cannot deliver the planned 75 gigalitres of water a year to Melbourne without violating the central environmental condition set by federal Environment Minister Peter Garrett.
Pipeline land grab fury - Readers Comments
Mike Edmonds and Nick Higginbottom, The Herald Sun
COMPULSORY acquisition letters have been sent to land-holders along the controversial north-south pipeline.
Yea or nay?
Peter Ker, October 3, 2008, The AGE
PRIMARY school artwork has rarely been so political. In a quiet corner of the Yea library stands a comprehensive display about water conservation. Prepared by local schoolchildren, there are tips for saving water and information about climate change but, not surprisingly, the content is dominated by the north-south pipeline.
Farmers oppose north-south pipeline
October 3, 2008, Weekly Time
COMPULSORY acquisition letters have been sent to land-holders along the controversial north-south pipeline.
Pipe push is madness
Peter Ryan, Weekly Times
There is time to abandon water plans
Kenneth Davidson, October 1, 2008,
The AGE
The desalination plant and the pipeline will become white elephants.
tate hoses down pipeline flames
Peter Ker, September 30, 2008 , The Age
FIRE crews have been granted permission to take water from Victoria's north-south pipeline, in a move that has raised questions about a Labor MP's lobbying.
Brumby attacked for water 'lecture'
29/09/2008 12:00:00 AM, Canberra Times
Independent South Australian senator Nick Xenophon has launched a blistering attack on Victorian Premier John Brumby, likening his call for responsible water use to Osama bin Laden demanding world peace.