Greens Senator for NSW, Dr Mehreen Faruqi, will visit Broken Hill and Menindee tomorrow (17 January) to meet with locals and see first hand the devastation occuring in the Murray Darling system as a result of mismanagement and climate change. Senator Faruqi is a civil and environmental engineer who has worked on water management for the last two decades.
Senator Faruqi will also meet the Broken Hill Greens Convenor, Eve-Lyn Kennedy. Senator Faruqi will be available for media on Thursday and on Friday morning.
Senator Faruqi said:
“The shocking scenes of the fish kills is the result of consistent abuse of the environment for greed and profit. The ecosystem is collapsing because politicians have pushed the Murray Darling River system to the brink.
“The continued abuse of the Murray Darling System is nothing new and, sadly, what we are seeing now is the inevitable result of years of neglect and incompetence, especially by the National Party. The Nationals must be held to account.
“The Liberal and National Parties are more interested in appeasing big corporate interests than looking after the needs of the community and fostering a healthy river system.
“The Greens have been the most consistent advocates for protecting the Murray Darling. Greens in Broken Hill have been fighting for years to have politicians listen to the reality of what is happening to their community.
“For years there has been over-extraction from the system, restricting environmental flows that allow the Murray Darling to function. This has been devastating for communities and the environment.
“Climate change is the elephant in the room. If we don’t take urgent action to stop our planet warming, extreme heatwaves and drought will become more and more common.
“I’ll be meeting with locals and touring the area to see the extent of the situation and hear ideas about how to fix it.
“The axing of the National Water Commission under the Abbott Government was a reckless move that has led to a lack of national leadership and no independent auditing of water management in Australia.
“This is a huge wake up call. We need to urgently return the environmental flows that have been stripped. The Greens have called for a Royal Commission to expose the mismanagement, greed and corruption that has caused this,” she concluded.
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