PM tests the water in his grand vision
JOHN Howard will today outline his vision to safeguard the nation's water supplies -- and prove he has the big ideas needed to fight another election -- with a plan to deliver large recycling projects across Australia.
After promising to "put a bomb" under the national water initiative to develop greater co-operation between the states on the Murray-Darling, the Prime Minister will signal his desire to stimulate investment in water storage and recycling.
In a major speech to the Committee for Economic Development in Australia, Mr Howard will also flag his support for technological solutions to tackle climate change, including nuclear power and clean coal.
He will argue greenhouse-gas emission trading schemes have failed overseas.
While new dams remain one option to boost water supplies under a $2 billion funding program, the Government is keen to pursue recycling plants because they do not rely solely on rainfall to help "drought-proof" Australia for the future.
Mr Howard's push follows Parliamentary Secretary for Water Malcolm Turnbull's warning that state governments are using water bodies as "cash cows" and imposing artificial water restrictions to protect profits instead of investing in infrastructure such as recycling plants.
Pledging to outline a "long-term" agenda on water, nuclear energy and climate change, Mr Howard's speech will also deliver a rebuke to Treasurer Peter Costello's supporters who have hinted the Prime Minister lacks ideas to fight the next election.
"Whoever you are in this job, you have to be thinking of the long term," Mr Howard said yesterday. "I mean, once you stop thinking about the long term, well, that is time to pull up stumps. That is my responsibility. There's nothing remarkable or reactive about it. Bob Menzies was thinking about the long term right up until the time he departed the scene."
His comments come as an opinion poll shows most people believe Mr Costello's account of the 1994 conversation that sparked last week's leadership row, but still prefer Mr Howard as Prime Minister.
The water crisis was an issue Mr Costello nominated this month as one of the five great long-term challenges facing Australia, including fertility, ageing, and indigenous disadvantage.
Predicting the Government would "take a hit" in the polls as a result of the leadership rumblings, Mr Howard yesterday reiterated his belief that voters and the partyroom wanted both men to stay on in their current positions. "In the end, parliamentarians make a hard-headed assessment about who is more likely to deliver a victory," he said.
Another new poll, by Roy Morgan, has revealed that Mr Howard is preferred by 43 per cent of voters -- an increase of 7 per cent since March -- to be the Coalition leader at the next election, compared with Peter Costello on just 17 per cent.
Claiming a mandate from the 2004 election to stay as leader, Mr Howard hinted it would break faith with voters to quit.
"I'm not seeking in any way to damage Mr Costello," he said. "Our colleagues have in my assessment made a very clear statement over recent days, and that statement is that their strong preference is for each of us to remain in our current positions."
Senior ministers predicted yesterday the Treasurer would not challenge. "It's not seriously in his character to do that or he would have done it well beforehand," Communications Minister Helen Coonan told the Ten Network.
And Health Minister Tony Abbott told the Nine Network: "I think Peter will continue to serve in the capacity the party wants him to serve."
The water crisis was an issue Mr Costello nominated this month as one of the five great long-term challenges facing Australia, including fertility, ageing, and indigenous disadvantage. Predicting the Government would "take a hit" in the polls as a result of the leadership rumblings, Mr Howard yesterday reiterated his belief that voters and the partyroom wanted both men to stay on in their current positions. "In the end, parliamentarians make a hard-headed assessment about who is more likely to deliver a victory," he said.
Another new poll, by Roy Morgan, has revealed that Mr Howard is preferred by 43per cent of voters -- an increase of 7 per cent since March -- to be the Coalition leader at the next election, compared with Peter Costello on just 17 per cent.
Claiming a mandate from the 2004 election to stay as leader, Mr Howard hinted it would break faith with voters to quit.
"I'm not seeking in any way to damage Mr Costello," he said. "Our colleagues have in my assessment made a very clear statement over recent days, and that statement is that their strong preference is for each of us to remain in our current positions."
Senior ministers predicted yesterday the Treasurer would not challenge. "It's not seriously in his character to do that or he would have done it well beforehand," Communications Minister Helen Coonan told the Ten Network.
And Health Minister Tony Abbott told the Nine Network: "I think Peter will continue to serve in the capacity the party wants him to serve."