Basin Plan fails NSW

THE final Murray-Darling Basin Plan marks years of hard work “wasted”, say NSW Deputy Premier and Nationals Leader Andrew Stoner and Minister for Primary Industries Katrina Hodgkinson.

In a statement issued yesterday, Mr Stoner and Minister Hodgkinson said NSW Basin communities had been sacrificed for South Australian Labor votes, resulting in hard work, good faith and millions of dollars wasted.

NSW Farmers president Fiona Simson was also reluctant to support the final Murray-Darling Basin Plan, signed into law by federal Water Minister Tony Burke yesterday morning.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) presented the final Basin Plan to Mr Burke this week after legislation to allow the 450GL adjustment mechanism passed the Senate. Mr Burke addressed the National Press Club in Canberra yesterday, confirming the final plan would achieve a water savings target of 2750 gigalitres.

“Our initial reaction is that the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is not acceptable to NSW,” Mr Stoner said.

The Deputy Premier reminded the Commonwealth Government that it needs the support of NSW to execute the plan.

“John Howard was spot on when he said ‘rivers do not recognise those lines on the map that we call state borders’, but we also want to recognise our Basin centres and towns as the vibrant communities they are now for many years to come after any Murray-Darling Basin Plan is in place,” he said.

“With the final Plan failing to include a cap on water buybacks at 3 per cent per valley per decade as required by NSW, the federal Water Minister today claimed NSW believes there are sufficient projects to achieve 650GL in Sustainable Diversion Limit (SDL) offsets.

“Mr Burke is verballing NSW because, as we have stated on many occasions, we are a long way from being confident that the SDL adjustment mechanism will deliver up to 650GL in offsets against this target.

“We have called for a binding cap which would force the Commonwealth government to focus on infrastructure projects, rather than falling back to lazy and destructive buybacks.

Mr Stoner said the NSW government may seek to implement its own cap in the absence of one set by the federal government.

Minister Hodgkinson acknowledged the hard work already undertaken by NSW farmers and irrigators to increase on-farm water use efficiency.

“NSW comprises 56 per cent of the Murray-Darling Basin and our communities live, work and breathe the implications of a healthy river system every day.

“Today the hard working Basin communities of NSW have been passed over in the Commonwealth’s haste to pander to South Australian politics.

“While the NSW government has managed to secure a number of improvements from previous Plans, including that water recovery must be equitably shared between all Basin states, this plan does not represent a good deal for our communities.

“We will strongly scrutinise the Intergovernmental Agreement when it is presented, however the entire NSW government stands side-by-side with our Basin communities as we seek an equitable and sustainable future for Australia’s great food and fibre basin.”

Ms Simson said it was important to acknowledge how far the plan had progressed in the five years the issue had been debated, but “unless our key expectations have been met, it is unlikely that the plan will have our support”.

“It would pain me to oppose a plan that had the potential to deliver so much for basin communities,” she said.

“Our members live and work in the Basin and we all proudly contribute to its health.

“Whether we can support the plan or not will come down to whether the federal government values our contribution to the social, economic and environmental future of the basin as highly as satisfying the South Australian government.

“We have been buoyed by the Deputy Premier’s commitment that if the federal government will not commit to a cap on buybacks, the NSW government will.

“We are in this for the long run. The fight is far from over.”