Just to open other doors for their future and more choices. 

Thanks heaps.

A couple of weeks ago the news reported the event of the Stoccos’ confrontation with police near Wagga.

This was the first time the public was made aware that Australia’s most wanted were on the loose and had been for eight years.

Twelve days later they were arrested much to the assistance to the efficient police network by members of the public.

Whilst the public had no actual hands on to the arrests, the progressive information given to the police no doubt made their job easier.

Would it not be beneficial to all if details of wanted criminals were made to the public as a regular media update so the police would have a lot more eyes and ears on the ground providing valuable information to police?

I ask you “What does the Riverina stand for?”

To my mind, it stands for a vastly productive, diverse agricultural region synonymous with clean, safe food and fibre.

The combination of flat plains, warm climate, good soils and a good supply of irrigation water has allowed the Riverina to become the largest wine producing region in NSW as well as a major producer of cereal crops, rice, cotton, lamb, wool, beef, chicken.

Agriculture is the largest employer in the region and it is abundantly clear that every town in the Riverina is heavily reliant on agriculture. According to Riverina Development Australia, “agriculture is the backbone of the Riverina’s economic prosperity”.

Given our area’s huge reliance on agriculture it seems unbelievable, even surreal that the NSW Government would even consider such an antiquated landfill proposal as has been put forth by AES.

To suggest it is rehabilitating the site – with rubbish no less – out of the goodness of their hearts, is laughable. There is money in waste, and at present no money in tin, hence Australian Tin Resources’ amazing transformation into Ardlethan Environmental Solutions.

Nearly 20 years ago, the commissioner denied approval to an almost identical proposal because of the risks posed to agriculture. Now with environmental safeguards more stringent than ever this proposal should never have seen the light of day.

At our community meeting a few months ago it was very clear that many attendees had serious concerns, among them were Graincorp, NSW Farmers and the Griffith Shire Council. Dumping 14 million cubic metres of loose rubbish on an extremely exposed ridgeline, elevated above the surrounding agricultural region is a major cause for concern. 

Sarah Roche, GrainCorps Regional Manager stated that Graincorp “had significant investment  here at Ardlethan – $5 million – so this is very significant, this proposed development  being so close to our site and what that poses for increased vermin and pests to the Graincorp facility.

With potential capacity of up to 200,000 tonnes at Graincorp and Emerald with a similar potential capacity we need to think about what impact  that’s going to have, and I’m pretty sure they are not going to want vermin on our trains going to Port Kembla and then on to our vessels. So when we are talking about significance; it’s locally, regionally, nationally and internationally.”

John Ward, NSW Farmers Executive Councillor for Region 9 and Rural Affairs Committee member stated that biosecurity is one of their greatest concerns and that “the implications of this in 2015 with the imports we have, with the amount of produce that is imported from countries that we didn’t have 10 to 15 years ago, it would be horrendous if it gets out of control.”

Griffith mayor John Dal Broi said “we never thought it would raise its ugly head again. There has got to be better ways to grow your community, you don’t need this sort of development that you will pay for, for many years to come – your grandchildren will be saying why did you allow that to happen? March 2012 we had an enormous flood, Yenda went under, the water came from here (Ardlethan). If we have contaminated leachate coming out of this site and it comes into our area, and we really promote and pride ourselves in being a clean green area and we really push Riverina Naturally, we can no longer promote that.”

What is a reputation worth? Agriculture in the Riverina is worth in excess of $1.8 billion. The Riverina’s reputation and its ability to produce clean, safe food and fibre hangs in the balance.

If this proposal is approved, our area will be seen as Sydney’s dumping ground, home to one of the largest landfills in NSW, visible to anyone travelling through our region. Bringing rubbish from Sydney provides a conduit for overseas pests and diseases to find their way directly to the Riverina, and dumping this loose rubbish on an exposed windy ridgeline will ensure these are transported across the region. Positioning the landfill within the Mirrool Creek catchment presents serious risks to the creek system and the MIA downstream.

What do we stand for? Are we prepared to stand up and protect our region? We all need to act now by writing to the Planning Minister, the Agriculture Minister and our local member. 

Write to the politicians below and become a member of Don’t Rubbish the Riverina, which gives our group more weight when talking with government. Membership costs $5 per person and can be sent to Don’t Rubbish the Riverina, PO Box 76 Ardlethan 2665 or direct deposit your money to BSB No: 082 444 A/C No:773712691 and then send an email to bygoo@bigpond.com  with details. For more information go to our website www.dontrubbishtheriverina.com.

Minister for Planning: The Hon. Rob Stokes, MP. GPO Box 5341 Sydney NSW 2001. office@stokes.minister.nsw.gov.au

Minister for Agriculture: The Hon. Niall Blair, MP Minister for Primary Industries, and Minister for Lands and Water, GPO Box 5341, Sydney NSW 2001. office@blair.minister.nsw.gov.au

The Hon. Daryl Maguire, MP: Member for Wagga. 76 Morgan Street Wagga, NSW 2650. waggawagga@parliament.nsw.gov.au