Minister for Central Australia, Peter Toyne has flagged close links to the community designed, owned and driven Lake Eyre Basin sustainable natural resource management process.

Addressing an 80 strong community conference in Birdsville on 25th October, Minister Toyne said he was very keen to work on linking the Desert Knowledge projects being developed through Central Australia with the Lake Eyre Basin community process.

“We’d like to explore that rather actively regardless of any issue of the Agreement itself,” he said. “So, we’ll definitely be working with you on that.”

The Lake Eyre Basin process is all sectors of the community coming together to work in partnership with governments for an economic, social and ecologically sustainable future.

The Minister was in Birdsville to observe a meeting of the Lake Eyre Basin Ministerial Forum where he was extended an invitation for the Northern Territory Government to be party to the Lake Eyre Basin Agreement.

“We’re here to have a look,” he told the following community conference. “We want to see how best to align our interests to the Lake Eyre Basin (process).

“Whatever formal decisions are made by our Government about entering into the Agreement, we’ll certainly continue to make available all the assistance we can and I guarantee the concerns about working on a whole-of-basin basis will be met. People from our departments will continue to come along and be available to provide input.

“I’ve been very impressed with the energy and the focus to date and I’ll certainly take that back to Cabinet.”

“It’s been a very enlightening and inspiring experience to see people coming in from throughout this area and we’d love to be in there with you.”

The Lake Eyre Basin Agreement is currently between South Australia, Queensland and the Commonwealth and covers the management of water and related natural resources in the catchments of the Cooper and the Georgina Diamantina within the two states.

A considerable section of the Georgina catchment lies within the Territory and, arguably, includes the Sandover River. There is strong evidence that the Sandover discharges water into tributaries of the Georgina in large flood events.