Published Thursday, 25 January, 2007 at 02:46 PM
Premier and Minister for Trade
The Honourable Peter Beattie
QUEENSLAND WILL CAREFULLY CONSIDER COMMONWEALTH WATER PLAN.
Queensland Premier Peter Beattie said today his government would not be rushing to judgement on the Howard Government’s plan to take control of national water policy.
The Premier said he would spend the next few weeks carefully considering all of the detail of the Prime Minister’s proposal and expected to discuss it at length at the February 9 meeting of the State and Territory leaders.
“The last time the States referred power to the Commonwealth, to provide consistent regulation for corporations, it was used by John Howard to strip away the basic rights of working Australians.
“As a result I want to consider the full detail and all possible implications of the Prime Minister’s offer.
“It is also important to remember that John Howard may or may not be the Prime Minister later this year and I look forward to discussing the details of the concept with other leaders in the weeks to come.
“I would note that the States and Territories have worked co-operatively on the Murray Darling issue and have met the requests made by the Commonwealth in the management of this complex system,” Mr Beattie said.
The Premier said he was concerned to hear the Prime Minister claim that the Commonwealth had no role in the provision of water to urban communities.
“The Prime Minister’s statement today contains nothing for the 17 million Australians who do not live along the Murray Darling Basin or in South Australia.
“Most Australians live along the coast and the only message the Prime Minister has for them is that the states and local government should impose huge increases on the cost of water to families.
“The Commonwealth should start taking its responsibilities to urban dwellers seriously and move quickly to help ensure vital new water infrastructure is provided to give water security to all Australians.”
The Premier also noted that while Queensland was the headwaters for the Murray Darling system it extracted just 5 percent of the river flow.
(NSW takes 55%; Vic – 34%).
For more information:
Premier’s Office – 07 3224 4500
The Premier said he would spend the next few weeks carefully considering all of the detail of the Prime Minister’s proposal and expected to discuss it at length at the February 9 meeting of the State and Territory leaders.
“The last time the States referred power to the Commonwealth, to provide consistent regulation for corporations, it was used by John Howard to strip away the basic rights of working Australians.
“As a result I want to consider the full detail and all possible implications of the Prime Minister’s offer.
“It is also important to remember that John Howard may or may not be the Prime Minister later this year and I look forward to discussing the details of the concept with other leaders in the weeks to come.
“I would note that the States and Territories have worked co-operatively on the Murray Darling issue and have met the requests made by the Commonwealth in the management of this complex system,” Mr Beattie said.
The Premier said he was concerned to hear the Prime Minister claim that the Commonwealth had no role in the provision of water to urban communities.
“The Prime Minister’s statement today contains nothing for the 17 million Australians who do not live along the Murray Darling Basin or in South Australia.
“Most Australians live along the coast and the only message the Prime Minister has for them is that the states and local government should impose huge increases on the cost of water to families.
“The Commonwealth should start taking its responsibilities to urban dwellers seriously and move quickly to help ensure vital new water infrastructure is provided to give water security to all Australians.”
The Premier also noted that while Queensland was the headwaters for the Murray Darling system it extracted just 5 percent of the river flow.
(NSW takes 55%; Vic – 34%).
For more information:
Premier’s Office – 07 3224 4500