DEAR News Of The Area,

I write the following response to Dave Wood regarding his opinion on water harvesting rights published on 17 November 2023.

Lacking originality Dave, your piece is void of validity and again seeks to bamboozle the reader with the same guff and contradictions as the original statements made by Tony Judge.

A common tactic of a weak argument is to enter the debate implying that the opposing view is hostile.

This is done with the intent to instil anxiety into the discussion and have the audience falsely believe that any alternative views are confrontational and should not be considered.

That Dave is the sad truth.

You referenced your source as the government’s DPIE website, so let’s look at what it says.

The ‘Coastal Harvestable Rights Review’ (October 2021) states that there were over 200 attendees at 30 regional face-to-face conferences and peak group meetings, as well as 51 written and 136 online submissions, which included Aboriginal groups, environment groups, industry groups, local councils, government entities, community members, and landholders.

I will note, that contrary to your construed comments regarding participation, most of the engagement was from individual landholders, who predominantly fulfilled the consultations via online or written submissions.

This would imply that the convenience of modern communication allows landholders to concurrently manage other tasks such as farming the food that we eat.

Within the review it is shown that landholders provide the most rational approach to the debate acknowledging that ‘capture and storage’ practices should be maximised during heavy rainfall periods and to quote “not access small run-off events”.

Amongst the multitude of considerations, the Department of Planning and Environment endorses the initiative to increase the portion of average regional rainfall run-off for storage to 30 percent.

Another point that should be considered in this argument is ‘personal motive’.

As you mentioned, Tony Judge is a Councillor for Coffs Harbour.

But what has not been disclosed is that Judge was a failed Labor candidate for the 2023 state election, and therefore has a hidden agenda in promoting the ‘knee-jerk’ policies of the Minns Government in complete contrast to the findings and recommendations of the review.

The irony Dave is that you have made it personal, you have aimed to politicise it, and you have obscured the debate with beat-ups of misinformation, misrepresentation, and exaggerations.

And to that end Dave, your opinion repeats the same wash of nonsense as that of Tony Judge.

Regards,
Adam FULLER,
Mid North Coast