18 April 2008
The Indigenous Water Policy Group (IWPG) will take an Indigenous
position on water to the Australian Government’s 2020 Summit
that is being held in Canberra on the 19 and 20 April.
Mr Joe Ross is the Chairperson of the IWPG and will be attending
the Summit on behalf of the Group. He is looking forward to
articulating an Indigenous position on water resource management at
the Summit’s forum on Sustainability and Climate Change.
“One of the main objectives of the IWPG is to articulate
the need for Indigenous rights, responsibilities and interests in
water resources across the north of Australia, so that they will
contribute to any water resource management plans and policy
reforms. The 2020 Summit provides the IWPG with a great opportunity
to invoke national dialogue on these issues” says Mr.
Ross.
The IWPG is an initiative that was founded and is supported by
the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management Alliance
(NAILSMA). The Group is funded by the National Water Commission
through its Raising National Water Standards Program.
Mr. Ross will be attending the Summit as part of a delegation
from NAILSMA. The Indigenous position on water that Mr. Ross will
be taking to the 2020 Summit will be presented together with other
positions put forward by the NAILSMA delegation. This delegation
also includes Mr. Peter Yu, the Chairperson of NAILSMA, and Mr. Joe
Morrison, the Executive Officer.
Mr Morrison says, “It is imperative that Indigenous people
are allocated rights to the consumptive pool, to ensure that we are
not further marginalised. The 2020 Summit provides an opportunity
to contribute to the national dialogue on these issues”.
The NAILSMA discussion paper that will be
presented at the 2020 Summit can be downloaded below.
