Hurry Save The Murray!

An Open Letter to the Hon Julia Gillard, Acting Prime Minister

Dear Julia Gillard,

We congratulate all who have argued that the floodwaters currently coursing down the Murray-Darling River should flow to the sea.

It is in the interests of the Murray-Darling River system as a whole that the accumulated salts and nutrients in the lower Murray, Lake Alexandrina and Lake Albert are flushed to sea. We know rivers die from the bottom up and our river is ailing.

Much has been promised. Will this be the week we made history, or the week we continued mucking around with the Murray?

Monday: We sweltered and pondered the “Rules are rules” rhetoric regarding the fate of the floodwater. It began as a cyclone in WA. Rain drenched Queensland, NSW, the NT and SA. Let it flow to the sea. Let it do the work that floods do, we said.

Tuesday: Good local rain. We asked you to take a stand for the health of Australia’s River. These floodwaters are our opportunity to reset the ailing system. The cure, fresh water, is in your hands, we wrote. Let it flow to the sea.

Wednesday: Refreshed by the cool change and delighted by the news that the NSW and SA Premiers had come to an “in principle agreement” for “reasonable environmental flows” to come down to Lakes Alexandrina and Albert, we anticipated an announcement at the close of your meeting with the Basin Official Committee (BOC) in Canberra.

But silence.

Senator Penny Wong, Climate Change Minister, said the states had achieved a “key milestone for the sustainable future of the Murray-Darling Basin …with the signing of Water Management Partnership Agreements.” But where was the water for the river?

“This agreement sets the framework for our investment in irrigation infrastructure to help our farmers and regional communities and protect food security.’’ But what about the river? Don’t farmers and communities also need a healthy river?

Thursday: We are at Code Catastrophic with the River Murray, Lakes Alexandrina and Albert.

Sunday: We watch the water arrive at the Menindee Lakes, NSW. Does the much-vaunted cooperative approach with the states deliver an outcome for Australia’s River or do we drown in a flood of rhetoric?

The health of the River is in your hands.