Foreign diplomats in Australia s parched capital are being asked to stop
watering embassy lawns in solidarity with a nation suffering its worst
known drought.
Canberra's plush lakeside diplomatic district is a green oasis amid
sunburnt suburbs where Australians are already barred from using
sprinklers with the searing summer months still ahead.
Foreign embassies and ambassadorial mansions in Canberra are not bound
by Australian laws or the tough water restrictions due to their
diplomatic status.
"Shorter showers and not watering the garden have become a reality for
all Australians, but our foreign guests are failing to abide by our
rules," The Daily Telegraph, the biggest-selling paper in Australia s
largest city Sydney said on Wednesday.
"No drought on foreign soil," said the capital s Canberra Times.
The lush grounds of Japan s mission, with its cherry blossom trees in
front and ornamental garden behind, was pictured in most newspapers,
although the nearby US and South African missions also have extensive
lawns.
"Embassies, when in Rome, should do what the Romans do," one Canberra
lawmaker said during a week in which spring temperatures touched 34
degrees Celsius (93 Fahrenheit).
Water levels in many reservoirs across Australia have fallen by more
than two thirds and some cities have almost no water. Earlier this
month, water officials told a summit of national and state political
leaders that the drought could be the most severe in 1,000 years.
An Australian Bureau of Statistics report this week said national water
use had dropped 14 percent in the four years to 2005 as the country s 20
million people became wary of waste.
Malcolm Turnbull, charged by Prime Minister John Howard with re-thinking
Australia's use of water, said he would prefer restrictions applied to
all in the world's driest inhabited continent.
"I think water restrictions should apply across the board, but I don't
want to delve into the embassies lest I create a diplomatic incident,"
Turnbull told reporters.
Turnbull said Australia's sprawling parliament, which has an emerald
lawn across its roof, should set the first example and slash its water use.
(
Planet Ark, 30/11/2006)