PM Blocked from having water tank

Published: 16 March 2007.

Prime Minister John Howard is being stopped by heritage officials from installing a water tank at his Sydney residence, Kirribilli House.

Mr Howard has been out selling his $10 billion water plan, announced this week, and encouraging Australians to do their bit at home by collecting storm water in household tanks.

Mr Howard said he has been trying for six months to have a water tank put in at Kirribilli House.

But heritage officials insist laws ban the 150-year-old harbourside estate from having a water tank built on to it, even though it probably had one for many years.

"I've asked, and were debating it, and the heritage people are raising objections to having a water tank installed at Kirribilli," Mr Howard told Southern Cross Broadcasting.

"I asked that be done about six months ago, and we've had all sorts of meetings, and you can imagine, with an official residence as old as Kirribilli House, there are all sorts of objections.

"But I intend to get that done and then I'm going to look at whether we can do it at The Lodge as well."

Mr Howard's 10-year $10 billion water plan asks that the four states straddling the parched Murray-Darling basin hand over control of the river system to the commonwealth.

About $3 billion would be spent on buying out irrigation licences to address over-allocation of water supplies, and almost $6 billion on a huge upgrade of irrigation infrastructure.

SOURCE: AAP