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The Forum > Article Comments > Water policy is not that simple > Comments

Water policy is not that simple : Comments

By Daniel Connell and Karen Hussey, published 13/2/2006

There is tension between the idea of water as private property and water as a multi-use resource creating disputes over its management.

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Perseus needs to take a cold shower and relaaaaax. His anger overtaketh him.

Perhaps he might like to reread his post, along with the last one of mine to which he responded, and try to imagine what the average calm and sane person might make of it.

Then having reread it, did he find anything in it that is relevant to this debate on water policy?

.
“No state or local government can legislate to stop this demand.”

wre, no state government has even tried. Not even the Carr government, which was interesting given how concerned Bob Carr always was about Sydney’s growing population.

However, some local governments have. Mike Berwick, Mayor of Douglas Shire in north Queensland, has been in his position for many years now, with a policy of limits to population and development. Others have followed suit to some extent – Noosa and Byron to name a couple.

Governments CAN mitigate population pressure. In fact it is one of their most fundamental roles to balance the private enterprise push for ever-more of everything with the protection of the community and environment. The really big problem is that governments are far too closely associated with the big end on private enterprise.

What you seem to be saying, if I dare to extrapolate, is that there is nothing we can do about continued population growth in this country, and that we will simply have to accept that it will take care of itself in its own good time, with all the consequences that it will bring.

We could build heaps more big dams and long pipelines. We could direct a huge amount of money into these projects, which would take money away from other ever-more needy areas and/or cause us to be taxed at a greater rate. Then yes, we might actually have water security….for a little while, until the population builds up the point of stressing that resource again.

Doing something like this would facilitate population growth, leading to a greater demand exerted upon resources that are equally or more stressed.
Posted by Ludwig, Thursday, 16 February 2006 10:11:37 PM
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So Byron, Noosa and Douglas Shires are the way to go, Ludwig. You really are a fringe dweller, aren't you. These shires make pronouncements about population control and then seek maximum publicity for themselves through all sorts of stunts and then complain about more people arriving.

Byron's water supply is in a parlous state because the gravel washed from unpaved roads have silted up the local Dam. One district has had no additional bitumen in the past 30 years. The catchment has also undergone a five fold increase in the area of woody weeds and regrowth and this has almost halved the effective water yield. And they now want a new dam worth millions.

And the green "mandate" in Byron Shire is actually held by an electoral minority of local residents who depend on an equal number of transient voters, who are gone before the next election, for their majority. So spare us the posturing for the gullible, Ludwig. It is a disgrace the way you have sought to gag legitimate discussion on water solutions with all this fringe population scheiser gestalten.
Posted by Perseus, Friday, 17 February 2006 12:42:30 PM
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Crikey, poor old Perseus really does have a hang-up with his ‘Germanic’ slander. How to win friends and influence people!! How to make others on this forum think of him as a level-headed contributor. mmmMMMMmmm

Don’t you just love the contradiction in this; “…..have sought to gag legitimate discussion on water solutions with all this fringe population scheiser gestalten”

Apparently my discussion is not legitimate, but his use of deliberately offensive slander is. And all in the same sentence!

Does he really think that population size and growth rates are not intimately related to water policy?

The fact remains, some local councils are very much aware of growth pressure and have made solid attempts to deal with it. That directly affects their plans for water infrastructure. The effectiveness of this growth mitigation might not be high. But at least it is an indication that not all of our decision-makers are in the pockets of big business.
Posted by Ludwig, Friday, 17 February 2006 5:31:44 PM
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As a 5th generation Australian who has lived and worked in London, Athens, Hong Kong, Vancouver, Sydney and now Brisbane, the mind simply boggles at the sort of population pressures that poor old Ludwig must be under in Far North Queensland.

Did he get his anti-population fetish in a blinding flash one day when he found two people in front of him at his local bank? Did a whole 8 vehicles pass his house in a single hour? Have the western suburbs of Charters Towers extended a whole 400 metres in the past decade? Whoa! Stop the bus, Ludwig's got future shock and wants to get off.

This clown doesn't want to improve anything because it will only encourage more humanity. So tell us, mate, when was it you were captured by aliens, again?
Posted by Perseus, Wednesday, 22 February 2006 11:35:02 AM
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Whheee wh wh whhoo whoooow

Yet again we see a post from the mighty Precocious that is full of sputum and has 0% to do with the subject at hand.

Here we have someone who has apparently (although you can’t believe a word he writes) lived abroad, as well as in Australia’s two most population-pressured cities….. and he reckons my concerns about continuous population growth are bogus!!

Oh well, if he insists on holding onto his position at the loony end of the spectrum, so be it.

So why do I bother responding to his trash?

Well, this forum has shown to serve two purposes: serious debate on all manner of very important issues and entertainment value.

He serves the latter beautifully. So may he continue to provide a bit of light relief from the seriousness of OLO discussions, at his own expense.

Although he has proven himself incapable of giving a proper response, I ask again; “Does he really think that population size and growth rates are not intimately related to water policy?”, and in a further futile attempt to prompt some intelligent reaction, I ask; how can we possibly formulate effective water policy, let alone simplify water policy, if the demand is going to be forever increasing?
Posted by Ludwig, Wednesday, 22 February 2006 9:49:40 PM
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I'm starting to get the impression that you blokes don't like one another.

Now, why would that be?
Posted by DFXK, Wednesday, 22 February 2006 10:45:47 PM
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