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Auditor-General to hold Snowy inquiry

The Victorian Auditor-General will conduct a formal inquiry into the handling of the State Government’s commitment to restore the Snowy River.

By Kevin Balshaw - 5th October 2009 - Back to News

The Victorian Auditor-General will conduct a formal inquiry into the handling of the State Government’s commitment to restore the Snowy River.

The Auditor-General’s decision follows a request by the Member for Eastern Victoria, Philip Davis, and comes 10 years after Labor took office on an undertaking to restore the Snowy in return for the support of then newly elected Gippsland East MLA Craig Ingram.

The Snowy River Alliance also wrote in support of Mr Davis’s request. Auditor-General Des Pearson said in a letter to Mr Davis an audit of the Government’s performance on commitments to restore environmental flows to the Snowy River would be considered as part of a broader Health of Victoria’s natural water systems (lakes, rivers, wetlands) performance audit.

Mr Pearson said the audit of the state’s water systems was included in his office’s 2009–10 annual plan.

Mr Davis said he had sought the audit in the light of growing frustration and disappointment in the East Gippsland community at the Government’s failure to honour commitments made at the time of the 1999 election, subsequent intergovernmental agreements between Victoria and New South Wales and with the Commonwealth, and the corporatisation of Snowy Hydro in 2002.

Plans for the progressive restoration of the Snowy were also backed with funding commitments of $425 million.

"Labor’s pledges — on the public record, in intergovernmental agreements, enshrined in legislation, and subject to budget allocations — provided for a 15% environmental flow in the Snowy by this year, 21% by 2012 and 28% beyond 2012," Mr Davis said.

"The actual environmental flow of only around 4% last year and projected for 2009–10 falls unacceptably short of what was promised. "The promise has been broken and, as I pointed out to the Auditor-General, I am unaware of any progressive accounting having been undertaken in relation to Victoria’s funding commitment.

"I welcome the Auditor-General’s indication there will be an audit because I firmly believe it is warranted to establish a basis of fact around the Government’s failure to restore the environmental health of the river."

Source: http://gippsland.com/

Published by: kevin.balshaw@parliament.vic.gov.au

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