Dr. Elaine McGoff:

On the question of whether we will reach good status by 2027, I agree with Dr. Crowe there is no chance we will. I put that question to the Department myself at a webinar a couple of months back and it also said this plan is not going to get us where we need to go to. I appreciate this is a mammoth task but as the Department recognises we are not going to get where we need to go to, can it then do a gap analysis of it. What are the roadblocks? How far are we going to get? What would be required even with investment and measures to get us to where we need to go? It would give the public far greater transparency. We would know what the problems are and why we are not getting to good status. That is really lacking. Until I asked that question quite directly of the Department, there was, I guess, a certain pretence the river basin management plan was going to solve all our problems. It is like the emperor's new clothes. Everybody knows it is not. I would like to see us being more honest about it, laying it out in black and white and allowing stakeholders to fully understand the roadblocks.