Birney drowns in his own water policy

10/11/05
Opposition condemnation of the Gallop Government's water recharge trial has left its leader Matt Birney looking like a fish out of water.
The Minister Assisting the Minister for Water Resources, John Kobelke, said Mr Birney had claimed injecting wastewater into underground aquifers and drawing out fresh water was something only used in third world countries.
"Well, unfortunately, this type of water recycling is used in such first-world countries as the USA, Belgium and in Singapore," Mr Kobelke said.
"But the leader of the Opposition's embarrassment does not end there.
"It seems he was so keen to condemn our diversified approach to providing sufficient water to Western Australian users that he forgot to check his own policy.
"The Liberal party went to the last election espousing exactly the same policy for aquifer recharging that we are trialling."
Mr Kobelke said the least the Government would have expected was grudging bi-partisan support for putting into place the same idea Mr Birney pushed at the last election.
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