An Environmental Issue that gained some attention during the Federal Election 2001 - Water
The following questions and answers provide some details on how important environmental issues become linked with socio-political considerations.
What did the price of water have to do with the election?
John Howard, as leader of the Liberal Party and Prime Minister of the Liberal-National Coalition Government said improving the quality of our water was one of the nation's longer term environmental challenges. However, it was also an immediate political problem because farmers faced losing water entitlements where it hurt the Coalition most, in the NSW seat of Gwydir, held by National party leader and Deputy Prime Minister John Anderson.
Why did John Anderson worry about this when water licenses were really a state responsibility?
In this case the important words to consider are "competition policy". Irrigation water users were being forced to make do with less water under a federal/state "competition" agreement to save the Murray River. These irrigators, being farmers, expected the federal National Party (the farmer's party) to help them out in this difficult situation
What did the Coalition say about this issue?
John Anderson (leader of the National Party and Deputy Prime Minister in the Federal Coalition Government) said taxpayers in the city should foot the bill in those cases where farmers lost their water rights, but no details were announced.
Was this a good policy?
No. Many irrigators were doing very well out of the water "trade" arrangements. Farmers were becoming instant millionaires through the water "trade" as their liquid asset was worth more than the land they irrigated. Their water became valuable precisely because its use was being limited.
In the future, would voters, particularly city voters, complain if they were asked to pay compensation to irrigators?
No. As the dairy compensation package showed (where farmers received generous six-figure cheques to stay on the land) the public generally doesn't create political problems if taxpayers funds are used to help the "victors" as well as "victims" of competition policy.
