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Speech by Diane Bell, Edwards Square. Murray Bridge Rally. January 17, 2009
 Thank you for the invitation to speak here today. Congratulations to the organisers and welcome to all who travelled here for the walk across the bridge and rally.
I pay my respect to the Ngarrindjeri on whose ruwi we meet and with whom we stand strong in our struggle to save the mighty Murray, Lakes and Coorong.
Greetings from the River, Lakes and Coorong Action Group and the Finniss Catchment Group. Yesterday in Murray Bridge I was talking with the Wellington to Mannum LAP group and was struck by how important it is that we carry the message together from the Murray Mouth to Canberra. Fresh water for a living River.
This is not just a local issue. The future of the Murray should be of concern to all Australians. It is our River, a living River, and living systems do not survive when we cut them into little pieces and neither do communities.
It is death by a thousand cuts. Here are some of them.
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A weir below Wellington. Were still waiting for the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to be released but that hasnt stopped the SA Government from cutting it up a bit more and seeking approval for a road to be built across the sand-spit from Nalpa Station to Pomanda Island.
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Salt into the lakes. Its good that Federal Minister Peter Garrett is requiring a full EIS but the failure of the Government to communicate effectively what they know to be true the lakes are a predominantly fresh water environment and have been for some 7,500 years has fostered divisions within the local community.
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The bund across the Narrows is silting up. If you want to see the risks of another weir, have a look at that. Lake Albert is designated a terminal wetland. Chop it off!
- Proposals for engineering solutions in the Goolwa Channel supposedly to protect the environment but these weirs will just further chop up the system.
As a community we have sat down and figured out how to respond to each new proposal. We have offered thoughtful input. We are concerned that no short-terms actions are taken that will impede a fresh water recovery.
Weve been running a do-it-yourself campaign. Just hop onto our website www.stoptheweir.com to learn more. Pick up a post card. Pop on a shirt. Participate in one of our musical extravaganzas.
 The SA Govt has been stressing the dangers of Acid Sulfate Soils and has been promising consultation but all we get is pamphlets and power point presentations no engagement, no sustained exchanges, monitoring not remediation, no whole of system plan. Policy is being made by popularity polls.
Well it wont do. Weve been writing together, singing together, planting and mulching together. We have produced a 10 point Low Intervention Action Plan.
It begins by stating that the problem is over-allocation. The drought is bad but this is a country of drought and flooding rains. We see signs of recovery all around us. The July August rains last year kept the country fresh. New life appeared through the acid sulfate soils, fish spawned. Lets invest in life. Cost plans for bioremediation (planting and mulching) as you have done with weirs.
On Thursday in Goolwa Minister Karelene Maywald said she wanted a fresh water solution - not salt water and not more weirs - but she says she has to plan for the worst case scenario.
Well we can make it very simple for you. There is at least 200 GL on the market that could be bought tomorrow. For around $70 million you could buy it. Senator Penny Wong has $200 million. Invest it in the future of South Australia.
The government has purchased the water for critical human needs. What about critical environmental needs?
Where is the Water Audit? Senator Nick Xenophon asked. He sends greetings from Canada where he is working on our behalf to learn more of their Carbon Pollution Reduction Scheme. As Nick has pointed out: How can decisions be made before the water audit has been publicly reported? It exists. Can we please see it? Minister Maywald said she would get back to us on Thursday. Still waiting.
 So let us do the balance sheet here. A string of temporary weirs, dredging at the Mouth, pumping of salt water, pumping at Lake Albert, fish kills, stranded migratory birds, rotting vegetation, Australia shamed internationally for destroying a Ramsar site.
The weir below Wellington will cost in excess of $250 million and that is a temporary weir. It will sink. The new pool will become stagnant. Algal blooms are coming to a site near you. Salinity will increase and move up river.
The price tags on the weir proposals for the Goolwa Channel range between $11.5 and $100million. They are also said to be temporary.
Minister McEwen, I congratulate you on all that has been achieved.
Yes the new Murray Darling Authority is a step forward but only if it can act as a national body in the interests of all Australians and actually deliver an outcome, not just more bureaucracy. Yes, the investment in pipelines has secured water for communities around the lakes but they have also taken the pressure off the government to get fresh water to keep the lakes healthy.
My fellow citizens, what we do this year may be the most important thing we do in our lives. It is up to us to make sure our children and grandchildren have a River, Lakes and Coorong. Please join me in demanding action. Stop telling us the water isnt there or that there are too many impediments to getting it here.
Stop telling us water evaporates. Of course it does. Its called the water cycle. Its not peculiar to Lake Alexandrina.
Minister, I ask that you commit to purchase that water.
No more excuses.
Vision, leadership and courage.
It can be done.
As the Beatles may have sung: All we need is fresh water La, la, la , la ,la.
Diane Bell
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