Patrick J. Byrne

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WATER: Towards healthier river systems: a flawed process

Health & EducationMarch 22, 2003

The proposal to reallocate up to 15% of farmers water allocations for environmental flows down the Murray-Darling Basin is a flawed process, argues Professor John J Pigram. He is Adjunct Professor at the University of New England, was previously Director of the Centre for Water Policy Research at UNE, is President of the International Water Resources Association, and is on the Board of Governors of the World Water Council. This article first appeared in Water, February 2003. Summary The Water Policy Agreement put in place by the Council of Australian Governments in 1994, and endorsed by successive high level policy…

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NATIONAL AFFAIRS: Deregulation and water could be a tragedy for National Party

National AffairsMarch 22, 2003

Sugar deregulation and the removal of farmers’ water allocations in several states could prove to be a tragedy for the National Party. Investment in cane harvesters is a key industry barometer. Orders used to be around 160 p.a. until partial deregulation in 1996. In 2001 only 15 were sold. In 2002 it dropped to nine, and this year only five have been ordered, just one for Queensland. A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Federal and Queensland governments was signed last September 25 by the National’s Federal Agriculture Minister, Warren Truss, Queensland Minister for State Development, Tom Barton, and Queensland…

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Farmers’ water rights at stake

UncategorizedMarch 8, 2003

The community process to engage farmers on proposals to take up to 15% of their water right down the Murray-Darling Basin to improve environmental flows (see last News Weekly) has been a failure. Even farmers who attended some of these consultations have come away unaware of the intention to cut their water allocations by up…

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AGRICULTURE: Sugar industry reports: ‘social science fiction’ – Ted Kolsen

Rural AffairsMarch 8, 2003

Emeritus Professor Ted Kolsen, former head of the University of Queensland’s Economics Department, recently presented a paper to “The Sugar Summit”, organised by the Australian Cane Farmers Association. He was critical of some recent reports recommending deregulation of the industry. Pat Byrne reports. Three recent reports have examined the sugar industry, the Centre for International Economics (CIE) study for the Queensland Government, the Boston Consulting report for the Cane Growers Board and the Hilderbrand report for the Federal Government. All recommended substantial deregulating of the industry. In a paper to the recent Sugar Summit on the industry’s future, Professor Ted…

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