Mildura West Primary School
Ms CUPPER (Mildura) (13:43): Late last year my office received a petition from the students of grade 5C at Mildura West Primary School sharing their concerns about the health of the Murray and Darling rivers. The students of grade 5C will have just started in grade 6, but I hope they will get a chance to see their concerns shared with the house today. These empowered young students have been learning about policy and government, and through that process they have created a petition which attracted 165 signatures. The students and the signatories to the petition have grave concerns about taking too much water from our rivers, in particular through the proliferation of water-intensive crops like cotton; the illegal and unethical storage of water and meter tampering in New South Wales and Queensland; the death of endangered fish like the Murray cod and silver perch; and ultimately the risk that our rivers, and in turn our communities, will die if we do not do more to conserve water for the environment.
I stand with the students of Mildura West and share their concerns. I want them to know that I am doing everything I can from this house to ensure that Victoria adheres to the Murray-Darling Basin plan, but also that as Victorians we hold other states and the commonwealth government to account for the times they have ignored or defied the intent of the plan. The students in grade 5C understand how important a healthy river is to our community and the entire nation. I am proud to bring their petition to this house, confident in the knowledge that the next generation of Mildurans are already fighting the good fight for our mighty Murray River.