The Albanese Government has officially declared war on Basin communities and Australian families who are suffering with the cost-of-living crisis. On Tuesday, the Federal Water Minister declared that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan MKII would remove the legislated protections around taxpayer funded water buybacks and the new plan extended to 2027.
The Victorian Government has not signed up to the new plan as it recognises the destruction caused to rural communities and food security under previous buybacks. NSW on the other hand showed their hand as being a spineless lap dog to the political ambitions of Minister Plibersek.
The additional 450 gigalitres sought by Plibersek was only tacked onto the plan by a recalcitrant South Australia, which blackmailed into taking the additional water on.
While the Basin Plan sought 2,750GL returned to the environment, the additional 450GL brought the total to 3,200GL. Currently, environmental water holding exceeds 4,600GL and despite huge problems with deliverability, third party impacts and crushing rural communities, the Fed’s will seek more than 800GL more for their coffers through SDL project completions and the 450.
Member for Murray, Helen Dalton, said the move was purely political.
“The whole system is out of kilter with what they’ve done in the last 20 years. We’ve got the Murray River, running so hard that you’re causing environmental damage and you’ve got the Darling, which is barely at times a trickle.
“They have to come back to the drawing board and have a good, long, hard look at how things are being run, but I don’t have any confidence in Tania (Plibersek) doing that, she’s never met with me out in the electorate and I’ve invited her many, many times.
“It’s almost like she doesn’t want to know, she’s been given this job to do and she’s just going to do it.
“I think it is incredibly concerning that she’s taking the law into her own hands and changing the law for her own political persuasions, they’re running the rivers for politics, and not considering us at all.
“She’ll do it at any cost, and it’s the cost to rural, irrigated communities, it’s a cost to annual cropping, it’s a cost to dairying and all the processing.
“It’s just going to put a wrecking ball through our communities and more job losses, people will leave town, banks will continue to close, health and education services will continue to diminish.
“I don’t know whether she understands all of that, and I don’t know whether she understands that we are the nation’s food bowl.”
Moulamein farmer and Chair of National Irrigators Council, Jeremy Morton, said the move was extremely disappointing.
“Here’s the minister, looking to basically reshape the Basin Plan, ignore the social and economic impact of buybacks and progress a different plan that will have maximum economic, social impacts on Basin communities, and also risk significant environmental damage.
“It’s extremely disappointing, but not surprising, given everything we’ve heard from this government and this minister.
“All power to Victoria for sticking to their guns and wanting the plan delivered the way it was intended to be delivered.
“I really hope that the rhetoric we’ve heard out of the New South Wales Premier and the New South Wales Environment Minister about not wanting buybacks is actually true, and they don’t choose roll over and let the federal government come in.”
Grass roots water and community advocacy group Speak Up for Water Chair Shelley Scoullar said the Albanese Government had failed to keep its promise.
“It was especially disappointing that Ms Plibersek has spoken constantly about listening to communities and seeking their input, when in reality, all the efforts to engage with the process have fallen on deaf ears.
“This was her opportunity to get the Basin Plan right and make the necessary changes that would protect the environment, the economy and our rural communities. Instead, the Minister has chosen the easy option, which is more buybacks.
“What a slap in the face to our communities and the many people who actually believed Prime Minister Albanese’s words that he would ‘govern for everyone’. It seems our communities are exempt from his view of ‘everyone’.
“It appears Minister Plibersek has used a ‘sign up or else’ approach, and the NSW Government has bowed to the pressure, doing a deal that agrees to buybacks in exchange for more federal funding. Congratulations to the Victorian Government and its Water Minister Harriet Shing for standing firm, even in the face of these tactics,”
Mrs Scoullar said Speak Up would continue to advocate for more efficient use of water in South Australia, rather than feeding its insatiable appetite for precious Murray River water that is being used for recreation, housing developments, industry and domestic use. It will also continue asking Ms Plibersek and her department to explain how the additional water being recovered will be delivered to the end of the system.
“We cannot deliver the full amount of environmental water that is currently held in storage, so how are we going to deliver the additional volumes that we are told will be recovered without causing flood damage to public and private property? What part of this basic physics impossibility does the Minister not understand?”
The Federal Government riding roughshod of rural communities is nothing new and is unlikely to change. Included in the Minister’s announcement is a ‘no regrets’ constraints relaxation project, that will no doubt ensure the delivery of water to expanding downstream demand by dredging and expanding our natural constraints into high volume drains.
The Murray-Darling Basin Plan clearly demonstrates legislation is only abided by when it’s convenient to the political outcomes sought, and changed when it’s problematic to those ends.
It’s lucky they’re not running a country or contemplating constitutional changes…
This article appeared in The Koondrook and Barham Bridge Newspaper, 24 August 2023.
Related stories: Listen to people who have ‘lived experience’ – SRI, Historic deal struck to guarantee a future for the Murray-Darling Basin: Plibersek
