Hurry Save The Murray!

A remarkable coalition of action groups from the River Murray, Lower Lakes and Coorong is taking their message to Canberra March 15-17. The seven person delegation representing communities around Lakes Albert and Alexandrina, the Lower River Murray and Coorong will meet with a number of politicians and bureaucrats.

“The River, Lakes and Coorong are in a desperate state, but they can be saved if we act now,” says Professor Diane Bell, member of the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group and Vice Chair of the Finniss Catchment Group. “Our voices need to be heard in Canberra. The future of our region hangs in the balance. We need urgent action.”

“The $900 million that Independent Senator Nick Xenophon secured for the Murray-Darling in the stimulus package has given us hope and we will be talking further about how the buy-backs can bring relief to this region.”

The group will also be meeting The Greens Senators. “We have really appreciated the way that Sarah Hanson-Young has got to know our communities and fought for that $10 million for bioremediation in the stimulus package,” says Karyn Bradford, Co-ordinator of the Milang Old School House Community Centre. “We see the land recovering and know we have the local knowledge and capacity to work on the remediation of acid sulfate soils. This will bring much needed jobs to community.”

The delegation is seeking federal intervention. They area asking:

• Where is the over-all plan for the management of the region? Where is the plan for recovery?

• Why is the Murray-Darling Basin Authority silent on the crisis in the Lower Lakes?