Water policy
Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (12:30): (287) My question is to the Minister for Water. Will Victoria continue to oppose water buybacks?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:30): I might seek leave to get an extension of time to continue on with this, Mrs Broad. You have, I think, locally made comment about Victoria’s position as it relates to buybacks and our steadfast opposition to buybacks. For people who are not directly in communities along the Murray, I just want to perhaps set a bit of context. Buybacks are a process whereby water can be taken away from the consumptive pool and used for other purposes. In the case of the work being developed by the Commonwealth government through a legislative process, this is about returning water to the environment.
Victoria, by way of context, signed up to the Murray–Darling Basin plan in 2012 to make sure that we could address the long-term challenges of water supply and security for our rural and regional communities whilst also making sure that we could continue to enable these communities – the food bowl of Victoria and Australia and a really significant contributor to our economic growth around the world with niche market opportunities and development – because it is world-class produce. In 2018 there was an agreement reached by all basin states to sign up to what are called the socio-economic criteria. These socio-economic criteria – Mrs Broad, I know you know all about this, but I just want to actually put this on the record – require that there must not be any negative impact in socio-economic terms in relation to the delivery of water under the plan.
Victoria’s position is backed up by evidence, including from the Frontier Economics report which was published by the government last year and shows very clearly that buybacks do real harm. They lead to very significant job losses. They lead to very significant hardships across communities. Mrs Tyrrell also knows very well the impact that buybacks have. When we saw 550 gigalitres removed from the consumptive pool through the last round of buybacks, we experienced that, and too many people have very vivid memories about the extreme distress that this caused, the loss and the damage to communities. Where there are positive or neutral outcomes for communities, the delivery of water through the plan, including for other purposes, makes sense.
Let us be clear, though: Victoria has delivered more water to the environment than any other jurisdiction within the basin plan. Victoria is on track, notwithstanding the impact of floods and the pandemic, to return more than 95 per cent of our water under the plan. Whether a two-year extension is granted, we remain opposed to buybacks.
Gaelle BROAD (Northern Victoria) (12:33): Thank you very much for that answer, Minister. Can you just explain how the government will oppose buybacks and protect Victoria’s ability to produce food?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:34): Thank you, Mrs Broad, for that supplementary. Again, I have made Victoria’s position clear in a number of forums. I have spoken about the impact of buybacks. I have also been in conversations, as have officials, with the Commonwealth and with other basin jurisdictions to really underscore the work that we have done in Victoria and the importance of making sure that in delivering the Murray–Darling Basin plan we are not just looking at the Murray, we are also looking at the Darling. When we look to the fact that New South Wales has not proceeded with many of its water resource plans, when we look to the fish deaths that are occurring across the Darling and Menindee and when we look to the fact that in South Australia only 2 gigalitres of water has been returned to the environment, it has also been important to make sure that we are underscoring the importance of the contribution that Victoria has made and of the opportunities that we have to deliver on the plan with that two-year extension, and I have requested a ministerial council meeting to continue that work.