Please take sport.fishing out of your send to list, this discussion isn't
about sport fishing and we don't want to have to read about it. Considering
it is on a politics ng it could go on for some time yet ! lol.
Thanks
"Peter Hodges" <peterh@no-spam> wrote in message
news:3ef41dd2.479703@no-spam
> X-No-Archive: Yes
>
> On 19 Jun 2003 22:01:04 -0700, uws@no-spam (Monte) wrote:
>
> <snip>
> >> > As a South Australian, the Murray's state is of particular concern:
we
> <snip>
> >> > So if Labor is so pro-environment, how is it that so little has been
> >> > done to help the Murray when *every* State the river flows through is
> >> > controlled by a *Labor* government?
> <snip>
> >> > Peter.
> >
> >
> >Good points. I agree 100%.
> >
> >Something else to ponder I guess is that the Murray Darling probably
> >flows through mostly National Party electorates. Also...Why aren't
> >the farming associations (particularly the NFF) more co-operative or
> >more vocal on the topic since almost of of our agricultural production
> >comes from this river system? Surely it would benefit farmers as a
> >whole if this issue is managed better. This really is a case of
> >farmers crapping in each other's nest and then asking other people to
> >clean it up. Farmers can't do it on their own but they do need to be
> >proactive. Are they?
> >
> >It seems to me that a lot more cooperation all round is needed to fix
> >this problem. This isn't just a politician's or conservationist's or
> >a recreational fisher's problem...or an Adelaide resident's
> >problem.... This is a farmers problem too.
> >
> >Monte.
>
> That's an interesting question and one I can't answer. It might be
> interesting if we knew what % of farms are "traditional" - i.e. owned
> by the family that's farmed it for generations. I suspect, from
> watching programs like "Landline" (ABC, Sunday, 12 noon) that many of
> these type farmers *are* taking what steps they can afford to
> replenish & repair their immediate environment, having realised they
> have been 'crapping in each other's nest'.
>
> OTOH, what % of farms are actually owned by big corporations, who,
> perhaps being overseas-based, will happily screw Australia for as much
> profit as they can get & when the land is exhausted repeat the process
> somewhere else? I suspect quite a lot of the cotton and rice growers
> - the big water users, using the most wasteful irrigation systems -
> either fall directly into this category, or are smaller farmers who
> have found themselves contractually bound to these corporations.
>
> Regards,
> Peter.