Open letter to NSW Premier

26 January 2009

By Kellie Tranter

The Hon. Nathan Rees, MP

GPO Box 5341,
SYDNEY NSW 2000

OPEN LETTER - PROTECTING OUR RIVERS

I was speaking with my eight year old niece recently about environmental degradation when she said wistfully, “It's like a rainbow dying”.  Very astute for an eight year old, wouldn’t you say?  A few days later I read the attached article ‘We’re to blame for ‘dead’ river’, which was published in the Maitland Mercury on 23 January 2009.  I noted that Labor’s 2006 State Plan set a laudable but rather ill-defined "target" to improve river ecosystems by 2015.  I was then dismayed to find that apart from bureaucratic waffling very little seems to have been done to try to actually achieve that target.  As we are about one third of the way to the target date would you please answer the following questions:

1. The Audit Office of New South Wales’s 2003 ‘Protecting our rivers’ audit noted the lack of a comprehensive management system to measure water quality or river health and found that “there were significant gaps in the monitoring and evaluation of water quality.  It was not possible, using the information available, to gauge the health of all rivers, the main risks to rivers or strategies for managing those risks.  We also considered that the existing arrangements for managing water quality lacked the structure to ensure success.  There was no lead entity to coordinate efforts to protect river water.  What arrangements, if any, does the NSW Government now actually have in place (i.e. operating) for monitoring water quality in our rivers?  Is the NSW Government in a position to openly assure the public that industries operating near NSW river systems, as well as more remote "diffuse source" potential polluters, comply fully with their licence requirements and their environmental management responsibilities?
2. The NSW Government’s much spruiked November 2006 State Plan said: “Healthy and resilient natural resources and systems provide the basis for our primary industries, tourism and recreational activities as well as providing the habitat for our unique native flora and fauna...”  and set its target to improve in the condition of riverine ecosystems by 2015.  The Natural Resources Commission (NRC) was, at that time, specifically given the task of reporting against State-wide natural resource standards and targets, but unfortunately not for river water. Last year The Audit Office confirmed that agencies are now implementing the recommendations of its 2003 audit and that the Government has appointed a lead entity, the Natural Resources and Environment CEOs Cluster Group (NR&E CEO Cluster Group) to coordinate the State Plan target for the condition of riverine ecosystems.  Do you agree with the Audit Office that  the NR&E CEO Cluster Group lacks the governance structure and resources for the long program required as it has no direct funding and cannot direct agency priorities?  If not, can you please tell me exactly what that Group has done -- and I mean, actually done, as distinct from "drafting", "planning", "developing" etc -- to ensure the State Plan objective is achieved? What exactly are the Labor Government's benchmarks for "improvement in riverine ecosystems"? Has the condition of the Hunter River been examined to establish base reference points, and has it been examined since?  If so, when did the examinations take place and with what outcomes?
3. Has the Water CEOs Group (now replaced by the NR&E CEO Cluster Group) completed its framework document that describes the responsibilities of agencies involved in managing river health and water quality?  Will this be made available to the public, and if so, when? 
4. Assuming it has actually been developed, when will the proposed comprehensive state-wide monitoring system for river health come into effect?   What information will be provided to industry and the public about this monitoring system and about what it detects? 
5. Are you going to implement the NSW Audit’s Office suggestion that the NRC become the lead entity to implement the State’s objectives for river health and water quality and to establish an independent review of river health and water quality?  If not, why not?
6. Is the Government going to provide the necessary resources - both current and future - for the Department of Environment and Climate Change, the Department of Water and Energy and the Natural Resources Commission to carry out all recommendations made by the NSW Audit Office?   

The Maitland Mercury article is indicative of community concern about a pressing problem in an area in which the Labor State Plan promised action.  I look forward to receiving your reply so we will all know exactly what action has been taken.

Concerned voter

Kellie Tranter 

cc The Hon. Frank Terenzini, MP, PO Box 212, Maitland NSW 2320

The Hon. Ian Macdonald, MP,  Level 33 Governor Macquarie Tower, 1 Farrer Place, Sydney NSW 2000