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August 1, 2008
Will water feature strongly in the upcoming Mayo byelection? It was not even mentioned on the ABC's Q & A, which I watched last night, even though most of the programme was taken up with climate change.
The Mayo electorate includes the lower reaches of the River Murray, and Brendon Nelson was down at Lake Alexandrina campaigning for the byelection. Nelson said that he would do everything he could to force the Rudd Government to provide a $50million emergency assistance package for locals and the environment, with the money to be spent on carting water for farmers and assisting the tourism industry.
The ALP is not going to contest the seat. This is Liberal heartland. Nelson got a bit carried away as he publicly canvassed the option of forcing farmers to sell their water rights to tackle the crisis in the Murray-Darling Basin. Dr Nelson's spokesman later clarified the Opposition Leader's remarks, saying compulsory acquisitions would only be countenanced if drinking water supplies were under threat.
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trying to imagine the kind of person who would have kept voting for Downer despite everything, would they even concern themselves with minutiae like water and rivers and pleb farmers? What does the popularity of Downer there tell you about the priorities of the Mayo electorate?
Having said that, is it wise to have Nelson campaigning in such a place? Or anywhere for that matter.