What??? Me PAY?? Cries Mr. Stanhope.

Bracks is in a more comfortable position than negotiating over 2bn in Liberal election promise funding.

He can hold out as long as he likes – afterall Victoria were already light years ahead of the rest of Australia when it came to Natural Resource Management implementation – hence they’ve already soaked up more money than the rest of the states could ever have imagined while they got their sh.t sorted out in the 90’s.

Bracks is no goose, he’ll be well aware that he’s now got the Libs in a stranglehold and all he needs to do is squeeze for additional incentives to make his side of the deal sweeter or the whole thing gets scrapped. JWH doesn’t want to go into election mode worrying about this issue.

Let’s also remember that the only thing keeping this government above board is the assetts they’ve sold over the last decade, and we seem to be handing them another one by handing over the Murray. How long before they start talking about M1 share selloffs ?

Well,according to the ABC Chairman Stanhope of the People Republic of Canberra signed up the the Federal Governments water plan. The only belligerent malcontent being Bracks. I do however imagine that Bracks will change his mind as soon as the money starts rolling out to the other states in the buyback of water allocations. Methinks he was aiming for some cheap political stunt, standing firm against the man or some such. He really just ended up looking like a goose after everyone else signed up.

I wonder if one of the contingency plans for if the ACT ever runs out of water in Cotter of Googong involves pumping out all the asthetically pleasing but otherwise superfluous puddles scattered about the place? I’m sure LBG would keep the Territory going for a while.

According to news reports popping up over the place, everyone (including ACT) bar Victoria have signed up.

I wonder is Standhope got what he asked for, or was just put in his place?

According to what’s been published here long, long before he’s talking about desalinating groundwater.

According to what’s posted on the IBN News nohope wants access to funding for Cotter Dam for recycling and desalination….the fuck? What’s he gunna do? Pump sea water from Jervis Bay?

I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt until I see the press statement.

I find this very intriguing: “I can’t possibly sign up to a new arrangement t…”

Does it matter whether the ACT govt. signs up or not? Constitutionally we probably have no power, and so this is all just posturing. I would be interested to hear some informed legal opinion on this one.

Furthermore, the ACT has a legislated supply, or limit to supply (depending on your viewpoint), and there’s not much anyone can do about it unless S-hopeless gives it away. Also, the ACT’s use is but a drop compared with total Murray-Darling Basin water supply. There is some argument that we put more out than we take in (due to runoff from hard surfaces that weren’t there before), but I haven’t heard the most recent version of that to know where it ended.

Typical state / territory governments. Ignoring national (and in this case, possible environmental) benefits on an initiative in favour of their own backyards – and yes I know that’s technically their job.

But its like the national curriculum argument. No state wants to sign up because it will ‘dumb down’ their curriculum – there is no logic if they all say that!