It’s desalination, come hell or low water - 6 February 2007

The announcement by the NSW Government of two preferred tenders for its
unpopular, expensive and greenhouse belching desalination plant at
Kurnell is clear evidence of a government bereft of ideas, said NSW
Greens MP Ian Cohen.

“Morris Iemma claims this is an act of last resort. What rubbish.
Desalination has clearly been their option of first resort since Bob
Carr originally floated the idea back in 2005,” said Mr Cohen, who
last year chaired a parliamentary inquiry into Sydney’s water supply.

“Since that announcement the NSW government has taken baby steps
towards reuse and demand management strategies. They could afford to
tinker at the edges with the real solutions because they knew that they
were ploughing ahead with desalination regardless.

“450 billion litres a year pours into the ocean via Sydney’s ocean
outfalls. Spending $1.2 billion to reclaim something we threw away in
the first place is an appalling indictment of this government’s water
strategy.

“An array of experts fronted the water inquiry I chaired in 2006 and
made it clear that a range of reuse and demand management measures would
save more water for less money and with less environmental impact. These
strategies could also be saving us water far sooner than the summer of
2009, which is how long it will take for this desalination plant to
become operational.

“This desalination plant will be one of the single biggest energy
users in the state. Its imminent construction shreds the Iemma
government’s climate change credentials.

“Desalination is a waste of $1.2 billion that could be spent pursuing
effective and sustainable solutions to our water crisis. Instead we are
getting yet another NSW ALP white elephant on the scale of the
disastrous ocean outfalls. This is a solution that nobody wants apart
from the companies who will profit from building it.

“A $1.2 billion desalination plant built to address a critical water
shortage whilst 450 billion litres of wastewater gushes into the ocean
would be a monument to this government’s incompetence on water
issues,” concluded Mr Cohen.

Further Information: Michael Hidden 0431 320085 or 02 9230 3305
Further Information: Ian Cohen 0409 989 466