Close to 100 children from the Milang and Goolwa primary schools form a love heart in the sand at the Murray Mouth, mimicking The Advertiser's I Love Murray campaign. Picture: Matt Turner Source: adelaidenow
PREMIER Jay Weatherill has hailed today's major milestone in ensuring the future health of the River Murray - but warns the eastern states will try to "unpick" the agreement.
The final hurdle in the 100-year fight for a national plan to save the River Murray has been overcome today as the disallowance period for the plan expires.
Federal Water Minister Tony Burke said that when Parliament rises today, the implementation of the plan will be irreversible - meaning the Basin will benefit from an extra 3200 billion litres of water a year.
The inter-governmental agreement on the river is still to be resolved, but Mr Weatherill is confident of reaching a conclusion.
"We have to be vigilant though," he said.
"The truth is the upstream states will be thinking of ways of unpicking this agreement. We know that this is a very long process of restoring the river to health and we need to be vigilant to ensure South Australia's interests are protected.
The Advertiser's 'I Love Murray' campaign makes a big splash in Canberra.
"The extra water will have many benefits, including keeping the Murray mouth open, flushing salt from the system and providing environmental flows to precious River Murray wetlands and floodplain."
Mr Burke said today's milestone concluded a century long tug-of-war between the states.
"I am pleased to say that the reforms that were signed into law last year are locked in as of today," he said.
"Year after year, we see the Murray Darling being restored to health.
"This has been the parliament that has solved what no other parliament could and this has been the parliament that has guaranteed that the Murray Darling basin is being restored to health and the degradation of the past is now a thing of the past."
The Murray Mouth, as seen from the air. Picture: Matt Turner
The Advertiser has fought doggedly for a better plan through its I Love Murray campaign, something Prime Minister Julia Gillard acknowledged when announcing $1.7 billion to deliver a further 450 billion litres for the environment on top of the 2750 billion litres already promised.
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Australian Conservation Foundation chief executive Don Henry said today was "a day to raise a glass to all the people up and down the River Murray who worked so hard to make sure enough water was returned to the river".
But while Basin communities can finally celebrate a guaranteed plan, the head of the body charged with delivering it has taken a swipe at the South Australian Government for slashing its funding.
Murray Darling Basin Authority chairman Craig Knowles, in an exclusive column for The Advertiser, said the State Government was guilty of "unravelling a historical arrangement it fought so strongly to secure".
Sean Parr's image of Murray River at Loveday.
From 2014, the State Government will slash its funding to the MDBA from $26.4 million to $12.1m a year. NSW has also slashed its contribution.
"The South Australian Government's decision to cut 50 per cent of its contribution is certainly a strange signal to send," Mr Knowles writes.
"Already, the funding cuts have led to key programs being axed."
Mr Weatherill said the state was more than paying its share of the costs of the MDBA.
"In 2013-14, we will be contributing 29.3 per cent of the total costs while NSW contributes just 13.8 per cent," he said.
The Murray River plan will restore more water for irrigators. Picture: Nadine Williams
"Even after our Budget savings take effect, in 2014-15 South Australia will be contributing 18.2 per cent of the costs and NSW only 11.3 per cent.
"Mr Knowles can't criticise South Australia's commitment to the River Murray."
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Children at heart of a campaign for good
A LITTLE under a year ago, The Advertiser took three water warriors - fisherman Henry Jones, irrigator David Peake and environmentalist Don Henry - to the lawns of Parliament House in Canberra in a bid to convince the nation's politicians that the River Murray needed a better deal.
The Murray Mouth, as seen from the air. Picture: Matt Turner
The impact was immense and at the close of business today more water will be returned to the river - 3200 billion litres instead of 2750 billion litres.
In anticipation of the end of the disallowance period for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, Mr Jones, Mr Peake and Mr Henry took their trusty tinnie to Hindmarsh Island to celebrate with those who stand to benefit most - the children of the river.
Almost 100 children from the Milang and Goolwa primary schools celebrated by forming a heart in the sand in front of the Murray Mouth to mimic the powerful symbol of The Advertiser's I Love Murray campaign.
Inside the heart were the three men who have become the faces of South Australia's fight for a better deal. Photographer Matt Turner was the architect of the human heart. He took the series of photographs from a helicopter.
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The sun sets over the Murray River at Mildura on the weekend.
Close to 100 children from the Milang and Goolwa primary schools form a love heart in the sand at the Murray Mouth, mimicking The Advertiser's I Love Murray campaign. Picture: Matt Turner
A houseboat takes a leisurely cruise down the River Murray. Picture: Ian Greenwood
