The alternative title was going to be 'It's Raining Spin', but when statements from Premier Jay Weatherill, which may individually be described as spin, repeatedly and directly conflict with each other, that becomes contradiction, and self-contradiction is indicative of either delusion or dishonesty.
That is, when Jay Weatherill makes statements about how important it is to engage in expensive legal action against other states/governments to ensure appropriate environmental flows for the health of the river, your own 'politics' will decide how much of that is genuine concern for the environment vs jobs for his lawyer mates (that's a blog-NF) vs pandering to the greens or to the irrigators, etc.
(It's clearly important enough to warrant an expensive advertising campaign; a bit like the Marine Parks. I support Marine Parks and any other genuine environmental protection program, but I don't trust this Rann/Weatherill state government; they lie, they lie; eg the Forestry Sale)
When he makes statements about the 'necessity' for a new, massive $130m South East Drain that will take surface water away from the local swamps and aquifers that desperately need it, and he again talks about doing that for the health of the Coorong and the Lakes and the Murray River, your own political template again will decide; genuine environmentalism vs an excuse to drain more land vs inner suburban green votes, etc.
If you ignore that the Premier, his government, the Environmental Protection Agency, etc, are ignoring the obvious massive local environmental damage that they know this 'proposed' drain will cause (eg, the recent Coolamdiddie Drain) he does generally appear to be staying on the same page; so far so good.
The discussion is broadly one of aquiring appropriate flows for the environmental health of the entire system, with an adjacent discussion on the requirements of irrigators, etc; economic demands that will always impact and/or rely on flows and availability.
However, when Jay Weatherill announces that Adelaide is about to 'mothball' it's brand new $2billion De-salination plant (that everybody in the state has payed for via their massive water bills) after a brief "test period" and start 'drawing from the Murray again because it's been raining alot and there are good flows', his previous commitment to the 'health of the River' is clearly compromised.
The issue immediately becomes one of definable conflict; taking water for Adelaide from the Murray River drastically affects the health of the river downstream, including the Lakes, and the Coorong; those effects have been lived out in the SA and national media; the collapse of ecosystems, and closing lakes, and regulaters, and 'poison' soils, etc.
The Rann Labor government was well on the way to building a 'weir' at Wellington to secure Adelaide's water supply, thus sacrificing the Lower Lakes, Coorong, etc; never forget that it is Adelaide first and everybody else can just get stuffed. (Wasn't that the Rann Labor 2010 election slogan?-NF)
It also reverse affects irrigators upstream, whose access will be restricted if it jeopardises Adelaide's demand.
When he makes these conflicting statements literally on the same day, it is cause for immediate concern; the Premier, and now also Treasurer, Jay Weatherill is either unable to remember what his government's position actually is on the issue, or he is being deceitful.
As someone with 'extensive' mental health issues himself, I do not lightly accuse another of being 'delusional'; however, I have no problem pointing at a liar and saying liar.
One reality no-one can deny; I...like...big...butts and I...oops, sorry. (yes, that's a Shrek joke) One reality - South Australia gets what the Eastern States allow to reach the border; unless of course there's record rainfall and massive flooding throughout the catchments and they just can't stop it. (...no..wait..that's 2 realities...I think...)
SA gets what water is left, and it is already highly polluted by activities upstream, eg, mining, agriculture, road run-off, sewerage, etc; and then when it floods, the accumulated pollution of years of drought, destroyed buildings, rotting vegetation, etc.
This is the Murray River that flows, often limply, into SA, and from which Adelaide continues to draw the vast majority of it's water. (certainly over the past 20+ years)
Even on a good day, Adelaide's tap water is recycled Eastern states waste water....get that down ya'.
So it appears that, even when Super Premier Jay Weatherill finally figures out what his position on 'water for the Murray' is really about, the only hope the Murray River has got of getting the 'environmental flows' that it needs (and everybody's got a different number of litres), is for another decade of record rains and the resultant mass flooding; super.
Unfortunately for SA, long term forecasts state that the El Nino/Nina (whichever, whatever) global weather cycle that has brought record rains over recent years in the Murray Rivers' Eastern state catchments, has reverted to the El Nina/Nino (whichevs, whatevs) cycle that brings drought to pretty much everywhere.
Why not use the expensive de-salination plant? Jay Weatherill states that 'it is cheaper to access the good flows of the Murray than use the de-sal plant.'
I think the De-salination Plant doesn't work, and that is why it will only be operated for a brief period of time, at nowhere near it's alleged capacity, before being placed on 'permanent stand-by'.
Thinks me rings true the reports that vital, sensitive, incredibly expensive equipment was left out in the open weather, completely compromising its effectiveness; it doesn't work, does it Jay?
I think that Rann/Weatherill/Labor have built a $2billion big, dark, damp hole in the ground.
Come on Jay, prove me wrong; run the damn thing at 80% capacity for a couple of years; and leave the poor bloody, muddy, not so mighty anymore Murray River alone.
To summarise; after extensive, expensive action 'for the health of the river', the state government now plans to take Adelaide's water from a river they know will run less and less.
I believe that the Labor government's 'commitment to flows for the Murray' is a deceit to mask the desperate necessity to secure Adelaide's water supply; a necessity driven by the knowledge that the de-sal plant doesn't work.
Everyone will suffer for Adelaide's stupidity and selfishness, and no-one more than Old Man River; even the $900million 'buy back' that MP Nick Xenophon forced out of a reluctant parliament, looks unlikely to eventuate.
I know; what SA needs is more Independents in the Senate. (subtle huh - see second blog)
Seriously, though, within the state there is virtually nothing SA can realistically do about how much water comes over the border, because as Adelaide treats the rest of the state with disdain and disinterest, so does the Eastern seaboard view Adelaide and SA; irrelevent.
Tomorrow: The Main Corner - Just How Much Money is Missing?
(don't panic-you will not be sued for defamation for reading this-honest-trust me...I'm a politician;
eg; in 2012 Councillor Penny Richardson raised, in Council, the issue of $340,000 of un-authorised expenditure by then CEO Greg Muller in late 2011; this remains un-resolved.
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