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The Forum > Article Comments > Water security is fundamental to our life > Comments

Water security is fundamental to our life : Comments

By Julie Bishop, published 31/3/2010

Access to fresh water can be seen as an issue of international security and increasingly an issue of international concern.

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Cornflower I don't disagree that folks would love to control water, what I do disagree with is your parking it at the feet of the Liberal Party.

Why the Liberals? I think you have the wrong political party.

As far as I know the only state so far to allow their water to be privatised is SA under the ALP .. not the Liberals, and I believe that's a French company. (is this correct?)

Water desal in Victoria appears to be heavily invested in by the ALP and Union Superannuation funds, I don't know how it is in other states. Do they controlling interest, I believe the unions super fund managers have board positions (?)

So owning Desal plants, or being the major investors and sitting on the board of them, would appear to me to be controlling the water.

If you want a good conspiracy, then what about the ALP in Victoria locking up the Mitchell River so it can't be dammed, then making sure Melbourne has to get a desal plant, owned by the .. Unions and their political arm, the ALP.

So maybe that's why Minister Garrett did not allow Queensland to build a dam, they want them to build desal plants that then they can control.

Good theory or what?

I'm more worried by our own political parties and union movement controlling water management, than I am by the Canuks coming in - our water supply is already stitched up.

Can SA even get Desal now, or is that contrary to their agreement with the French company?

To be honest, we probably should let someone else manage our water supply, we've made a complete mess of it haven't we?

Bruce - Julie is writing for a wide audience, so has to dumb it down so even idiots can understand what she's saying. She is not writing a piece to meet your lofty levels and standards.

Aka - did you understand it?
Posted by odo, Thursday, 1 April 2010 7:47:43 AM
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Two excellent posts by two triliterate palindromes of OLO, containing two gems in the form of, perhaps, two of the 'right questions'. (They say success in investigation or research depends more upon asking the right questions than anything else.)



Posted by Aka, Wednesday, 31 March 2010 2:25:01 PM

"Did Julie actually write this piece?"



Posted by odo, Thursday, 1 April 2010 7:47:43 AM

"If you want a good conspiracy, then what about
the ALP in Victoria locking up the Mitchell River
so it can't be dammed, then making sure Melbourne
has to get a desal plant, owned by the .. Unions
and their political arm, the ALP.
.
Good theory or what?"



My answers:

Yes, I found this article on the face of it so disappointingly anodyne that I, too, questioned its origin. In only one respect did the author come to grips with specific proposals. That is in the third last paragraph, where the statement is made that:

"The Coalition believes that great gains can be made
in the Murray-Darling through investments in water
efficiency. Investments such as lining water channels
and re-engineering water storages would yield huge
dividends in terms of reduced evaporation and seepage
of this precious natural resource."

Wasn't that specific project one being advanced by the late Richard Pratt (with $100 million of his own money, if I recall correctly) at a time when the Coalition was in government? I also recall something to the effect that Richard Pratt encountered very significant obstruction in attempting to bring this project to reality. The question now, in the light of odo's question, or theory, is from whom and/or where did Dick Pratt get that obstruction? THAT question is absolutely MAJOR, odo.

Come to think of it, maybe Julie did really write this article! After all, she is an experienced politician, and at her level an important skill is to get somebody else to ask the right questions. I'm beginning to think she may have done that admirably well.

The French company referred to is Veolia Water. Its everywhere.

http://forum.onlineopinion.com.au/thread.asp?discussion=495#9867
Posted by Forrest Gumpp, Thursday, 1 April 2010 10:13:34 AM
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There is need for a wake up campaign that will expose reality.

Note in the 4th para of the following UN report re "dirty" water links to impact of fisheries and ocean ecosystems.

http://www.unep.org/Documents.Multilingual/Default.asp?DocumentID=617&ArticleID=6504&l=en&t=long

This is really about impact and consequences of human sewage nutrient pollution being dumped daily in the ocean food web ecosystem.

A major problem is government and/or media gagging and censorship of debate about situations occurring in the ocean, including such as stated in this UN report that apparently has not seen light of day in Australia.

Surely the Australian ABC is obliged according to Charter to report such significant information of substance and issues.

Lack of debate and subsequent real solutions is causing severe damage to the ocean environment and world food supply sustainability.
Posted by JF Aus, Thursday, 1 April 2010 10:50:52 AM
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odo, "To be honest, we probably should let someone else manage our water supply, we've made a complete mess of it haven't we?'

Our engineers are just as good as any worldwide. Perhaps the terms of parliaments are too short for ministers to take notice of them and deliver good policy. Then there is the problem of poor cooperation between States and between States and the federal government, which likewise would not be solved and possibly made worse by outsourcing.
Posted by Cornflower, Saturday, 3 April 2010 2:16:06 PM
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Hon; Julie Bishop ; Why don't you post a substantial reward for ideas with the science for more efficiency by volume by desalination .
IMHO Osmosis systems are not suitable for high volume sea water desalination .
Solar Evaporators have been used in Asia for drinking water since the advent of Plastic sheeting , Au needs to develop this system , mechanize it for our Sun drenched Future .

I recall many years ago a Politician offered a Stipend (?) or Reward for Ideas on how to develop something I think it might have been Sir Robert Menzies ? Perhaps you could find out how he did this and apply it again .

My background is Refrigeration , I have plenty of ideas but I don't have the resources ; over to you !
Posted by ShazBaz001, Sunday, 4 April 2010 6:32:57 AM
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I agree with Forrest Gump's assessment; the only real 'meat' in this article was the third last paragraph.
The vast bulk of 'water loss' in the Murray Darling is in shipping the water -in the form of agricultural product- to the cities and overseas.
Once again, the onus on conservation falls on farmers and country dwellers, who are already experts on water conservation.
What steps have the cities taken to stop storm water flowing out to sea? This is rudimentary stuff, practised by all country folk.
For that matter, the water in the ag. products also ends up flowing to the sea, through a really stupid sewage system.
If you really want to make farmland sustainable, consider where farm products end up. The smart place to put dams is underneath cities.
A novel idea I think once mentioned in these pages is floating plastic bags (really big ones). Storm water could be directed into these bags, then floated around the coastline to areas of greater need.
Posted by Grim, Sunday, 4 April 2010 7:51:00 AM
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