Alice Springs Water Infrastructure Failing

Alice Springs is set have a very thirsty summer while the Martin Government is prepared to spend over $400m on the waterfront project in Darwin, say the Opposition.

"The fact is that Alice Springs, the capital city of Central Australia, is almost without water because of government neglect,” says Dr Richard Lim, Shadow Minister for Central Australia.

"It is an absolute disgrace that the deterioration of Alice's ageing water infrastructure has been ignored during the last five years.

"Government indifference has resulted in the town's water main bursting and a gauge at the Carmichael tank failing.

"As a consequence, from today, people in Alice Springs are faced with severe water restrictions.

"In this day and age, anyone living in Alice Springs should be able to wake up, turn on the tap and enjoy clean, flowing water.

"People were not able to go through their daily ablutions before going to work this morning because of the loss of water.

"Schools had to close and parents have been rung to pick up their children. Many of the parents are at work, and will have to leave it to care for their children.

"Water is being diverted from one end of town to the Carmichael tank which supplies the western part of town. Water pressures are low in the western parts of Alice Springs and in the CBD where our major tourism establishments are.

"What's next? - silted water flows through our taps.

"It all points to a Government that has lost sight of its core functions, at a time when it is receiving huge amounts of GST funding.

"It is time that the Martin Government looked outside of Darwin and notice that there are many people living south of the Parap line who deserve access to basic government services.

2006-10-11