The Government’s “native fish plan” is akin to shuffling the deck chairs on the Titanic, the Greens say.
Greens Spokesperson for Water Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said: “Our nation’s biggest river system is in environmental collapse and farming communities are suffering because the Government has mismanaged the Basin and let greedy corporate irrigators to take too much water.
“The Water Minister’s claim the Government is “doing all (they) can until it rains” is simply false.
“Praying for rain is not a drought policy or a plan to save the River.
“While splashing around money to breed native fish, the Coalition’s cuts to environmental flows means there is no water for the fish to survive. Just like shuffling deck chairs on the Titanic, this Government has no plan to save the Murray-Darling Basin.
“There will be more mass fish kills this summer because the Morrison Government has allowed big corporate irrigators to take more and more water so there’s nothing left to keep the River alive”.
“The Minister has tried to claim the Government is investing in science to deal with the fish deaths.
“Newsflash Minister, the science says you must act on the climate crisis. The science says you need to end over extraction by big corporate irrigators. The science says dams are not the answer to a lack of water. The science says floodwater harvesting by big corporates stops water running in the Rivers when it does eventually rain.
“If the Water and Drought Minister was doing his job properly he would act on the science and push his Government to get a climate policy because you do not have a drought policy if you do not have a plan to tackle the climate emergency.”
