This petition and voice of community action has no political affiliation. We do not sell, lease or transfer any data submitted. Our commitment is to the protection of the Murray-Darling Basin, it's sustainability and future. For more information please got to the frequently asked questions below. Thanks, Shane Strudwick.

NEWS 26.3.08: An in-principle agreement has been reached for Federal management of the Murray-Darling Basin. An independent commission will take over control of the entire Murray-Darling river system. That commission will make all decisions on how much water the states can take out of the river, and the conditions attached to their allocation, however under the deal Victoria will keep control of 50% of it's Murray allocations, with its current water plans set in stone until 2019...more. We intend to keep this petition alive until results are delivered to the region as promised by the Governments. The disaster is happening NOW and the Murray can't wait until 2011 for help.

Read about the recent Drought Disaster Tour.

National Murray Darling Basin Disaster Tour Video from Mannum to Narrung near the Coorong 01.30 : In March 2008 a group of farmers toured the lower Murray River from Mannum, through Murray Bridge and down to Narrung and Meningie to see the impact of the drought. This is spreading like a cancer up the river and the governments are just not listing to the people. Federal intervention is urgently needed to protect our future! See the tour           Our Murray-Darling communities are struggling with drought, massive income losses due to lack of water allocations and a huge negative effect on tourism numbers. Environmentally this is having a massive impact. This issue will impact on all Australians eventually. National Coordinated Action Urgent Federal management of the Murray-Darling Basin is the best way forward to ensure the long term sustainable future for all groups and communities relying on this important waterway. Click to find out about the creators of this petition. If you're an irrigator, tourism operator, dairy farmer, environmentalist, houseboat owner, business owner, resident or have any association with the Murray-Darling then sign this petition. Please email this page link to anyone who is concerned about the lack of government action in Australia's "Food Bowl". We need a huge community response for action. This petition will be delivered to all governments responsible for management of the Murray-Darling Basin. The Murray-Darling Basin (map) contains over 40% of all Australian farms, which produce wool, cotton, wheat, sheep, cattle, dairy produce, rice, oil-seed, wine, fruit and vegetables for both domestic and overseas markets. As Australia's most important agricultural region, the Basin produces one third of Australia's food supply and supports over a third of Australia's total gross value of agricultural production. Three quarters of Australia's irrigated crops and pastures are grown in the Basin. While agricultural production is vital to our economy, the Murray-Darling Basin is much more than simply a "food basket". It has an important place in the cultural heritage of all Australians and includes many significant natural heritage and environmental features.

Help us help the basin. We need urgent action and aim to present this to the Federal Government. To the Australian Federal Government, New South Wales Government, Queensland Government, South Australian Government and Victorian Government. We the people of Australia and supporters around the world, via this petition, are disappointed in the lack of support, response and action to the management and deepening water crisis of the Murray-Darling Basin. As a result this petition represents a lack of confidence in those responsible for timely decision making processes. First Name Surname Email Town State State ACT NSW NT QLD SA TAS VIC WA Other Country Australia or   Occupation Message (max 400 characters) characters left Please tick box if you don't wish to be added to our newsletter or update list Please tick box if you don't wish to have your message displayed online        Lake Albert, South Australia: Shows how far out the water has gone. I am already about 100 metres from the shore when taking the photo. The motorbike in the distance is stuck and the fellas have to lift it out. Our biggest trouble now, is how to get a pipe out into the lake and get water. The lake is so boggy, it is a human feat to have to drag a pipe out through mud that is at times thigh deep. This is a National Disaster.

Frequently Asked Questions

Naturally with such a sensitive subject we are getting questions regarding the credibility of this petition and it's motives. If you have a question please contact us anytime and we'll ensure you're answered. Thanks Shane.

How is the petition monitored and submitted?

Q It would be really useful if you could include a short blurb about how petition will be sent etc, as if you do a google search on online petitions you will immediately get a snopes/urban legends hit explaining why online petitions are relatively useless. If you are able to explain your petition does require more than just name and city which can be forged, and that people have to manually send this info to you etc so it can't be generated by a computer it would give the edition a lot more credibility.

A We understand you're concerns and have adopted a special way of recording the online petition. We track the IP addresses (they are unique) of all petition entries, along with the time (to the second) they are entered into the petition page and the time they actually submitted their entry. This gives us the power to search for any entries created and submitted in unrealistic timeframes (ie via computer scripts) and people cheating the system and signing up under many different names. This was implemented to ensure credibility of the petition especially being an online petition, but we do have many avenues to check for falsified entries if need be. We also have downloadable pdf paper based petitions circulating in the community. If you'd feel more comfortable printing one of those off please do. There are 27 lines on the page. Please sign this and either fax to us or post back.

As far as how we submit petitions. We're not allowing the parliamentary process to dictate the conditions of the petition or action of community concern. We are aware that at all levels of government they are monitoring the status of this petition themselves. Therefore they are aware of the community concern. The angle of our approach was to have a unified place for community voice and concern in a fragmented part of Australia. Ministers have been informed of the action and we intend to submit not all the petitions signed as this is a waste of paper but an overview of the action and responses. Samples will be from both online and offline. This is also a rolling action. So once it's submitted we intend to continue until we see both actions and benefits delivered.

I hope this has answered your questions. We take the credibility of this issue very seriously and don't wish to have any concerns come up. We respect both the time each individual takes entering their comments, the fact they are putting their name to this cause and the need for immediate urgency action in the Basin and the Murray River.

Who is organising this and what's in it for them?

Q. I am concerned about this petition. There is no identification of who this petition is being run by apart for an organisation called RiverMurray.com.au. This organisation is a industry body who promotes the river for commercial gain. There is no disclaimer about how the information provided will be used, it could be used for commercial gain and even given to other organisations who could possibly use the information for their own gain. If the petition was more open and provided verifiable information about it's validity and the use of the information given, or asked me to directly contact my local politician, I might consider signing it. I do not trust the motives of the organisation running it and I will not participate.

A. Thanks for the email. I can understand your friend's concern and I am the same with my information online. Click here to see a statement on the website regarding who I am, what I'll do with the information and my vision for the Murray and petition (or see above). This may help some make a choice to sign. I am a very small concern. Not a corporation. I have no political or environmental affiliations and I intend to never sell, lease or donate the data from this petition.

We do promote the Murray River and sell advertising however we're yet to make a profit. We began Discover Murray because we could see there were no quality promotional tools for the Murray River nationally. Each of the states promoted their own sections and find it difficult to cooperate (same issue with the water) which didn't bring integrity to this national icon or river system as a whole. It brings a new found respect and experience internationally as well. We've developed a new National Murray Trail as well. I'm doing this more to encourage people to visit the Murray and recognise it's magnificent beauty, understand and educate about it's importance to Australia and helping rural businesses link into a quality award-winning services we can offer.

We are gathering politician data to also list on the website if people would prefer to contact members themselves directly they can. The petition or community action forum was set up because I was personally tired of waiting for action in the basin. As I travelled up and down the Murray regularly in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia I could see the danger of a river system under enormous pressure. This was also echoed by people along the river and in the cities. I felt I could use Discover Murray as an opportunity for people to voice their concerns especially in such a fragmented part of Australia.

Hope all this helps and thanks for your support. I'm aiming to be transparent so others who don't know me will feel a little more trust. Naturally when you put things like this out there you're always open to attack but I just have to deal with that and remember it's for Australia's future, the Murray and the river communities. Thanks, Shane Strudwick