The Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission delivered a searing report yesterday which found that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority had committed gross maladministration and negligence in overseeing years of water theft and mass fish kills. Agriculture and Water minister David Littleproud, the man currently responsible for this gargantuan mess, claimed in response that there had been “significant improvements” since he’d taken over, before saying, as if to no one in particular, “we acted in a mature way with leadership, not with politics. You know what? The Australian public have had a gutful of politics. They want outcomes. That’s what I’m about.”
Like many Nationals, Littleproud doesn’t necessarily attract as much attention as one might expect — particularly now that he’s a minister. But the issues afflicting him are a microcosm of those afflicting his party.
The Murray-Darling Basin
Of course, the colossal mismanagement of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan isn’t entirely his fault; it’s just one of the many calamities Barnaby Joyce has bequeathed to his colleagues and the country. But it is his problem, and in that regard he’s done himself no favours. The sight of tonnes upon tonnes of dead and rotting fish blanketing the surface of the Darling river system greeted us in the new year and, a few days ago, there was another. Apparently, somehow, it was even worse. In the teeth of this grotesque policy failure (over 1 million native fish have died) Littleproud’s proclamation that fish kills will continue to happen and had been occurring for “many, many years now” was minimising and tone deaf.
Live exports
“I was absolutely shocked and gutted,” said Littleproud after sickening footage emerged last year of sheep dying from heat stress on an Emanuel Exports ship. Once again, this is a problem Littleproud can thank his predecessor as agriculture minister for. During his tenure, Joyce opposed efforts to improve animal welfare standards in live exports and degraded existing protections. The problems were such that Littleproud unloaded on his own department, which he said was unable to regulate the industry:
Ten days ago I received a report from my department, who is the independent regulator in respect to live trade, around an incident that happened in August 2017. I became concerned by that report not finding any breaches of standards by the exporter in question and subsequently asked the department to provide me with further information around their actions with respect to that incident and whether they had investigated that to a satisfactory level. I have only just received that brief back last week, but before that, I saw the chilling footage provided to me by Animals Australia … quite candidly, that vision does not marry up with the report I received, and that is quite disappointing to me …
The live export issue has also led to further spats with the Liberal Party, with Littleproud dismissing an anti-live export bill put forward by Liberals Sarah Henderson and Sussan Ley as a bit of ill-thought-out emotion: “I respect her … but I’m going to predicate my decisions on evidence, not emotion.”
Corporate spats
For a member of a conservative party, Littleproud is weirdly in favour of boycotts. After ANZ announced that it would close service in 61 regional centres, Littleproud was unequivocal:
My advice in response to this callousness? Take your business elsewhere. The ANZ obviously doesn’t care about country people who’ve supported it for decades as ANZ’s decided to abandon bush communities and leave customers high-and-dry.
He also told customers of Coles and Aldi to go elsewhere, after Coles ceased raising money for drought-afflicted farmers and, in his words, Aldi continued to “do bugger all” for them.
Farm labour visas
Littleproud has long been a proponent of a special agricultural visa that would allow for foreign workers to come to Australia to alleviate farm labour shortages. The visa has brought chaos to the Nationals leadership — with many in the party feeling leader Michael McCormack (remember that guy?) has been too passive on the issue — and brought Littleproud into direct conflict with Prime Minister Scott Morrison and Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton. Morrison reportedly “slapped Littleproud down” during a “robust cabinet exchange” about the issue, arguing it would cause backlash from Pacific island nations, whose citizens are preferenced as seasonal workers under current arrangements. Dutton, on the other hand, thought the visa would allow more illegal immigrants into Australia, because of course he did.
They have been getting “outcomes” Dave. Outcomes that smell like piles of rotting fish and water I wouldn’t wash your sox in.
Outcomes of the sort of maladministration of your government of a tax-payer funded multi-billion system prostituted to serve a few vested interests ahead of the greater good – not least those downstream from the chief benificiaries of that malfeasanse.
Flashes of “2001 : a Space Odyssey”?
…… With this Dave sounding more like HAL?
“I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal. I’ve still got the greatest enthusiasm and confidence in the mission. And I want to help you.”
“Just what do you think you’re doing, Dave?”
to paraphrase, “you’ll find that difficult without your head, Dave” but we’re talking gNats.
Heads? They don’t need ’em, except to keep up the Akubra.
Little to be proud of. Another National Party waste of space.
“I was absolutely shocked and gutted,” said Littleproud after sickening footage emerged last year of sheep dying from heat stress on an Emanuel Exports ship. ”
Sorry to inform you, Charlie, but that footage of suffering sheep has been put to the sword. Animals Australia is now the subject on a very serious investigation for fraud and misrepresentation.
We now know that “staffers” onboard that ship were paid serious money to “enhance” those images. Things like turning off the air-flow and over-crowding of the sheep pens…all for the camera and nothing but absolute silence from the MSM. The reasons being that it exposes the lack of investigative journalism and leaving all news outlets complicit in this terrible deception. It’s gonna be Dodge City for the law-suits that are coming.
There is nowhere to run and nowhere to hide from this abject hatrid and ignorance of farmers and the rural communities that put food on your plate, Charlie..everyday.
Sorry Mac, but you have got it wrong.
Some staff on these ships of death OFFERED to doctor the images for money…the offer was NOT taken up.
That is what I heard on ABC radio…and how could those images be made worse, anyway?
That story was also reported in msm, The Australian. The footage is not fake news. Interpreting Lewis’s story as being anti farmer doesn’t work. The facts speak for themselves.
“Interpreting Lewis’s story as being anti farmer doesn’t work”
Oh yes it does. The attack on Emmanuel’s Shipping is really a substitute disguised attack on the farmers..and an attack on the farmers is really an assault against the food source.
Agreed. the bigger picture hidden in plainsite
“The facts speak for themselves.”
And what might those facts be, Mr Vasco?
So I got it wrong because you heard it on ABC radio…really?
“Some staff on these ships of death OFFERED to doctor the images for money…the offer was NOT taken up.”
This is the filtered view put out by the flak catchers but they are in it up to their necks. The investigation will prove this beyond any doubt.
Go on believing what you want to believe. It’s a typical condition these days.
He who had a farm – so you don’t even trust what you see with your own eyes? Wouldn’t want to be in a car driven by you.
Well, that would depend entirely on what I am actually looking at. The camera often does lie and not every picture tells an accurate story. But lets not ruin a good story with the facts.
..err, not on Oz plates, it is 3+ yr old mutton, fit only for Id ritual slaughter for people desperate for protein in any form.
Same as the beef trade to Indo – Oz do not eat Brahma, they are entirely an export crop in the tried & true tradition of soil/water mining for export from land that should never have been abused by mammals.
Bullshit. The footage was real enough and if you look around you will find real measurements from the independent observers. IT happened, maybe the whistle blowers needed money, because they would never work in that area again. Fans were NOT turned off, that was refused. I sold sheep into this trade in bygone years. I would not do it now.
Those brave and courageous whistle blowers onboard that ship should who supplied the footage are hero’s and should be rewarded.
AR and the Old Bearded One are the only truthful comments worth reading.
Thanyou for being like totally honest.
They have further exposed the disgusting inhuman Australian farming practices as the cruelest in the world.
Things like we accept everyday as normal, shearing in freezing conditions, shoving poisonous drenches down their throats, mulesing when it’s not even required, crutching out of season, separating the lambs from their mothers and sending them to be slaughtered. When is this going to stop and when will Australian faarmers be exposed for what they really are? Murderers, all of them and for financial gain. We all must unite against Australian farming practices and against any community who support them.
There is n’t a language on the face of the earth that could put into context the absolute stupidity of this comment…speechless.
– “real measurements” – pig’s arse!
“independent observers” – like who?..the staffers?..you mean those unpaid “staffers”?
“Fans were NOT turned off” – independent evidence will reveal otherwise.
It’s you who is bullshitting parroting every msm version of events. I really did expect better from you..yes, you.
Little Proudfoot chose an exceptionally unfortunate cliche to continually mouth during that now long dead (pun unintended) sheep export fiasco – “I need to go on this journey” meaning, presumably, “lemme grok dis”.
Of course, we knowed he were just joshing, he didn’t give a flying, just vamping until it passed from the news cycle.
LIttleproud is the member for Maranaoa, a centre of Upper Barwon water theft. Joyce is the member for the NSW water thieves with the Gwydir and Upper Barwon in his electorate.