As climate disasters push us to the edge of environmental and social apocalypse, governments must be forced to switch their priorities from boosting corporate profits to protecting farmers and natural resources.
Rivers in crisis
鈥淚t seems that towns in western New South Wales are being shut down and nobody is listening,鈥 local resident Mark Merritt told 91自拍论坛 Weekly on the banks of a non-existent river.
The Broken Hill water pipeline has been exposed as a vital element in a plan to sacrifice the Lower Darling and Murray rivers to the interests of corporate irrigators and the mining industry, writes Elena Garcia.
The push by state and federal governments to dry up the Menindee Lakes has already had a huge impact on communities, graziers and local Indigenous people. But not everyone is losing out on the government鈥檚 plans for the Murray Darling basin.
After five years and $13 billion of public money spent on the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, there is less water in the river than ever before 鈥 and more in the private water storages of a handful of National Party donors, writes Elena Garcia.
Politicians and bureaucrats have launched endless inquiries in an effort to appear to be dealing with the water crisis in New South Wales. Yet these same bureaucrats have been very slow to implement any of the recommended reforms and few steps have been taken to deal with the mismanagement, water theft and corruption that led to this crisis, writes Elena Garcia.