Thursday, 13 November 2025

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:13): My question is for the Minister for Water. At a water forum in Bendigo in August 2024 the CEO of the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority warned that federal Labor’s water buybacks are increasing the risk of more impacts on the ecological health of the river. He said:

We can’t have the Goulburn River treated as a sacrificial lamb to downstream needs.

Yesterday you told this house that the federal Labor government has announced further buybacks of 130 gigalitres. Minister, can you rule out any of the 130 gigalitres of federal Labor buybacks being purchased from the Goulburn system? And if you cannot, how are you going to protect the river from bank slumping, erosion and declining native fish populations?

 Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (12:14): I thank Ms Lovell for her question, and I thank her for actually attempting to provide me with a question that is substantive, as opposed to what I have got so far from those opposite, including Ms Lovell, which is essentially whining and whinging and not actually getting involved in the actual issues. The issue that is confronting those communities along the Murray is substantial, and that is why we have spent so much time making sure that we are talking with those communities and working out the appropriate responses that are very local, that are not responses from capital cities – they are responses that are driven by those communities.

That is why we have developed the prospectus, and the prospectus is seen by all as the major vehicle to work out how we handle a response to a whole range of impacts as a result of the federal government’s non-strategic buyback approach to the Murray Basin. As I have said, and as previous water ministers on this side have said, we oppose the federal government’s non-strategic buyback approach to the River Murray, and we do so for a whole variety of reasons. We do it in terms of we have already made significant contributions. We do it because we do not think it is necessarily the right thing to do in terms of the environment, because the water does not necessarily go where it needs to be. But of course the other and substantive thing is, that it has a major negative impact on agriculture and river communities, because we know that it impacts on the costs and it impacts on the local economies of those that live close to or on the river. It is a matter of making sure that there is a productive and an efficient agricultural system in this state. We want to work with local communities to have a more strategic response to the Swiss cheese approach that the federal government is taking. We know that the footprint in terms of irrigation needs to be reduced, but we want to be able to do it in a way, with appropriate funds from the federal government, to be able to do it with local communities. We are absolutely wedded to that proposition, and we will continue to work with our local communities right along the river to make sure that we can get the best possible outcome in a situation where the federal government is the major determinant in this.

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:17): Well, all that did was confirm that you know the impact that this is having on our region, but you are not going to stop it.

Minister, in June this year after the last announcement by federal Labor of additional buybacks, I asked if you would lead a delegation of irrigators and community leaders from the Goulburn–Murray region –

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

Katherine Copsey: On a point of order, President, I cannot hear the question.

The PRESIDENT: Order! I will uphold the point of order. There is a lot of noise from right around the chamber.

Georgie Crozier: We said nothing.

The PRESIDENT: I will take up the interjection. That is a fair interjection as far as the question, but during question time.

Wendy LOVELL: Can I start again, President?

The PRESIDENT: You can. Reset the clock. Start again. Everyone listen, and then the minister will answer, and our lives will be enriched.

Wendy LOVELL: Minister, in June this year after the last announcement by federal Labor of additional buybacks, I asked if you would lead a delegation of irrigators and community leaders from the Goulburn–Murray region to bang on the doors of the Prime Minister and the federal water minister to ensure your federal colleagues understood the damage Labor buybacks are doing to northern Victoria communities and the health of the rivers. Your answer was no. Minister, in light of the latest Labor buyback announcement, I ask once again: will you, as a matter of urgency, facilitate this delegation meeting with the Prime Minister and the federal water minister?

Members interjecting.

The PRESIDENT: Order!

 Gayle TIERNEY (Western Victoria – Minister for Skills and TAFE, Minister for Water) (12:19): I thank the member for her question because, again, it gives me an opportunity to actually demonstrate the difference between our approach and that of those in the opposition. The opposition, all they are about is gloss and fanfare and hopping on planes. We are about making sure –

David Davis: On a point of order, President, this is not a chance to attack the opposition, it is a chance to answer the question. This attack on the opposition is misguided. I ask you to bring the member back to the question.

The PRESIDENT: I understand the point of order. I believe the minister was responding to the nature of the question, so the minister is allowed to respond.

Gayle TIERNEY: The Victorian position is known by all, and as I have just said, we are not into the business of just hopping on planes and then that being a demonstration of action or activity. What we are about is rolling up our sleeves and working with our regional communities. I had a very significant meeting with river communities, with the councils and with peak bodies in Echuca not all that long ago, and from that those groups have also met together to work out their united advocacy so that we have got a uniform position in terms of projects that we want to put to the federal government. In addition to that, I have actually had a meeting with the minister, Minister Watt, in my office here in Melbourne. (Time expired)

 Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:20): I move:

That the minister’s answer be taken into account on the next day of meeting.

Motion agreed to.