Murray-Darling Basin plan
Ms CUPPER (Mildura) (11:24): My question is for the Minister for Water. Our community was shocked last week when we heard the news that the New South Wales government had lifted its ban on flood plain harvesting just as the first decent rains in years over the northern basin began to bring life back to the rivers. While we are all acutely aware of the mismanagement of water in New South Wales and Canberra for the benefit of powerful private interests in the northern basin, this latest decision of the New South Wales government seems beyond comprehension. This is an absolute slap in the face to irrigators in my electorate, an overwhelming majority of whom do the right thing. In the handful of cases where they do not they are pursued and prosecuted to the full extent of the law. So my question is: when irrigators complain to me about corruption and mismanagement in New South Wales, what can I tell them to give them confidence that Victoria is fighting for them and that their efforts to improve compliance, metering and efficiency are not a complete waste of their time?
Ms NEVILLE (Bellarine—Minister for Water, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (11:26): Can I thank the member for Mildura for her question, a really important question and a really important issue. I know that she would have both the irrigators and the environment groups concerned about the actions of the Queensland and New South Wales governments in relation to this. I was also shocked. I thought we had made some progress, with New South Wales putting an embargo on flood plain harvesting, although they have still got a bit of work to do there. They themselves had criticised Queensland for doing it.
I have expressed on a number of occasions at the ministerial council that we needed a really strong focus on the northern basin, particularly after what we saw in the Darling River. I am really disturbed that following that they continue to make these decisions. There is no question it is a slap in the face to not only Victorian irrigators but also to some of the southern New South Wales irrigators. I think it was Chris Brooks—and Chris and I agree on some things and not on everything—who came out and said that this was robbing downstream communities. That is exactly what it is doing. The first decent set of rain we got which may have actually rehydrated a bit of the Barwon and Darling rivers—and we all saw the fish deaths—and may have started to contribute to that to wet it, even if it was not going to fill it but would actually enable future rains to start to fill those rivers, was just stolen. It is incredibly disappointing to see that.
I have written to the federal minister—the new minister. I have not yet met him, but I have written to him to outline Victoria’s concerns about this and have asked him to ask the inspector-general to look at what has occurred here. In my view, as a minimum it is a breach of faith; I also probably think it is a breach of rules, and I want the inspector-general to have a look at this. I want the inspector-general to also then provide advice about what we need to do to ensure there is consistency of approach across all our communities in relation to compliance and who has access to water. I will continue to pursue that. That was just after that decision that I wrote to the minister. I have not yet got a response but I am hopeful to get one soon. We do need to take action and do whatever we need to do. If I need to look at legal options, I will as well. This has absolutely been a slap in the face to communities. It is a bad decision for irrigators and it is a bad decision for the environment as well.
Ms CUPPER (Mildura) (11:28): My supplementary question is also to the Minister for Water. By design, the Murray-Darling Basin plan and the legislation that sits behind it were based on agreement from all basin states that the basin requires a certain amount of water to survive and that all states need to work together for the health of our rivers. We are now facing a scenario where other states who are party to the plan and agreement are actively undermining it to the detriment of Victorians. If representations that you have made to New South Wales and the commonwealth government are completely ignored, what is your plan B?
Ms NEVILLE (Bellarine—Minister for Water, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (11:29): Thanks, again, for the supplementary. Firstly, just to give the house and communities a sense of what this also means for Victoria, if you think about our entitlement to halve the water in the Menindee Lakes system, again, this rainfall would not necessarily have filled those lakes, but it would have wet the beds and we would have had an opportunity in the next rainfall to see that. There is a real consequence from this decision and a real impact on Victoria, and I think that it is a really good question.
We have given some powers to the inspector-general. That is why I want him to do it, because we have all signed up to the inspector-general having some powers and ability to enforce some of these things. As I said, I will look at all options, whether that is legal is well. We have done our hard yards. Victoria continues to do the hard yards here and we need a fair outcome, and I will do what I can to make sure we get that.