The South Australian government, key senators, Indigenous and
environmental groups are calling for urgent investigations into
allegations that water was being harvested by irrigators in the
Barwon-Darling region of the Murray-Darling basin to the detriment of
the environment and downstream communities.
The SA water minister, Ian Hunter, wants a judicial inquiry, Senate crossbencher Nick Xenophon wants the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate “stolen” water and he joined South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young in calling for a Senate inquiry with full parliamentary privilege to protect witnesses.
The Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) called for an Icac investigation, an overhaul of water planning and the removal of the water ministry from the NSW National party.
On Monday the ABC’s Four Corners program reported that billions of litres of water bought by taxpayers to return to the environment under the Murray-Darling basin plan were being allegedly pumped out by some irrigators for cotton growing.
The SA water minister said the NSW government must answer the allegations.
“If the allegations are correct, that at a very senior level in the public service in New South Wales that people have turned a blind eye to this, then that is very concerning,” Hunter said.
“There needs to be an independent judicial review – independent of government [and] independent of politics – [with] a senior judicial figure, because this strikes at the very heart of the public service in New South Wales, if the allegations are correct.”
The NSW water minister, Niall Blair, denied that his government was abandoning its commitment to the Murray-Darling basin plan. Blair confirmed he had asked for clarification of Hanson’s briefing to irrigators.
“The NSW government remains committed to the Murray-Darling basin plan, while seeking the best deal for NSW communities within that framework,” he said in a statement. “It’s wrong to suggest that a change to the water rules in NSW in 2012 somehow undermines our determination to see the plan through.
“I have directed the secretary of the NSW Department of Industry to provide an urgent overview of all the compliance matters raised in the program.”
The NSW Department of Primary Industries said in a statement it would “cross check allegations made by ABC Four Corners regarding compliance and any issues regarding the Barwon Darling catchment and implementation of the Basin plan”.
“DPI Water refutes the claims it lost its appetite for compliance and works closely with water enforcement authorities to achieve prosecutions where adverse activities are detected and proven.”
Xenophon called for the NSW Icac to investigate and he joined Hanson’s-Young’s call for a Senate inquiry.
“These allegations made last night were so serious, going to the heart of issues of enforcement, if there was any attempt to interfere with the enforcement of the plan to deal with issues of water meter tampering, then that ought to be looked at by Icac,” Xenophon told the ABC.
“[A Senate inquiry] needs to be done in the context where witnesses come forward so that they have absolute privilege and that they cannot fear that their jobs will be affected.”
Xenophon said he was contacted on Monday night after the program aired and he predicted there were more serious allegations to come.
“Effectively what we have seen here is an attempt to sabotage the plan but the sabotaging appears to be happening at the highest levels of a state government,” Xenophon said. “This must be dealt with as a matter of urgency.”
Xenophon is a key senator who holds three votes and thus the key to the Turnbull government’s legislative program if Labor and the Greens oppose government bills.
In the past, he has threatened to withdraw support from any government legislation over the Murray-Darling basin plan and specifically South Australia’s share of water.
Hanson-Young confirmed she would refer the Murray-Darling basin plan to a Senate inquiry once parliament resumed, to investigate the allegations.
“South Australia, the environment and taxpayers are all being screwed while a misuse of water caps is being used to line the pockets of big irrigators upstream,” Hanson-Young said.
“The Murray-Darling basin plan cost taxpayer $13bn, an extraordinary amount, and now we see the river isn’t even getting its fair share. This abuse of money and water should alarm all taxpayers.”
MLDRIN chair Rene Woods, representing 25 sovereign First Nations with links to the river system, said governance of the river system was broken.
“Water that has been dedicated to protect our environment and paid for by Australian taxpayers, is being sucked up and turned into profits for a cabal of wealthy agribusinesses,” Woods said.
“Senior public servants appear to have colluded with irrigators to assist their campaign against the Murray-Darling Basin plan. Aboriginal communities have watched as their sacred rivers are degraded, impacting on community health and threatening our ability to sustain our unique culture.”
Xenophon said the report showed behaviour that was undermining the 2013 intergovernmental agreement between the states and the commonwealth.
“It concerns me that it seems that the NSW government has been giving inside information to irrigators, giving them debranded documents, in other words documents that they have inside knowledge of in terms of the way the agreement is being implemented which could give them an advantage,” Xenophon said.
“But it also concerns me more than anything that there appears to be an attempt to undermine the agreement to ensure the agreement isn’t enforced. That sort of thing goes to the heart of the agreement.
“If you can’t enforce the agreement, if there has been a tampering of water meters, if water effectively has been diverted or taken away or in effect stolen, then that is the sort of thing that will destroy the effectiveness of this agreement.”
Labor’s spokesman on water and the environment, Tony Burke, who negotiated the basin plan in 2013, said the purpose of the reform was to restore the system to health.
“If any states are allowing the theft of environmental water then there is no Murray-Darling basin plan,” Burke said. “[National party leader and federal water minister] Barnaby Joyce and the NSW government must respond in the strongest possible terms.
“Any attempt to make excuses or explain away the issues raised in last night’s program will simply expose an intention from the Liberals and Nationals to destroy the Murray-Darling basin plan.”
Before the program went to air on Monday, Joyce said it was a state issue and the federal government had ensured under the Northern Basin Review that measures were more efficient to get water back to the environment.
The director of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Paul Sinclair, also called for Icac to investigate allegations which could amount to one of the largest known cases of alleged water theft in Australia’s history, as well as evidence that the NSW government did nothing to stop it.
“Instead of saving the river, it looks like the Murray-Darling basin plan has made a fortune for a lucky few,” Sinclair said. “The government has to step in to fix abuses now if we are going to save our most precious water system.
“Billions of dollars of public money has been given to irrigators and irrigation companies in the Murray-Darling basin over the last decade to secure water flows for rivers and upgrade irrigation infrastructure.
“Communities across Australia and in the Murray-Darling basin deserve to know why it appears laws to stop the theft of water flows haven’t been enforced by the NSW government.”
ACF is also backing a Senate inquiry into the dealings taking place in the Barwon-Darling.
The SA water minister, Ian Hunter, wants a judicial inquiry, Senate crossbencher Nick Xenophon wants the New South Wales Independent Commission Against Corruption to investigate “stolen” water and he joined South Australian senator Sarah Hanson-Young in calling for a Senate inquiry with full parliamentary privilege to protect witnesses.
The Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) called for an Icac investigation, an overhaul of water planning and the removal of the water ministry from the NSW National party.
On Monday the ABC’s Four Corners program reported that billions of litres of water bought by taxpayers to return to the environment under the Murray-Darling basin plan were being allegedly pumped out by some irrigators for cotton growing.
“If the allegations are correct, that at a very senior level in the public service in New South Wales that people have turned a blind eye to this, then that is very concerning,” Hunter said.
“There needs to be an independent judicial review – independent of government [and] independent of politics – [with] a senior judicial figure, because this strikes at the very heart of the public service in New South Wales, if the allegations are correct.”
The NSW water minister, Niall Blair, denied that his government was abandoning its commitment to the Murray-Darling basin plan. Blair confirmed he had asked for clarification of Hanson’s briefing to irrigators.
“The NSW government remains committed to the Murray-Darling basin plan, while seeking the best deal for NSW communities within that framework,” he said in a statement. “It’s wrong to suggest that a change to the water rules in NSW in 2012 somehow undermines our determination to see the plan through.
“I have directed the secretary of the NSW Department of Industry to provide an urgent overview of all the compliance matters raised in the program.”
The NSW Department of Primary Industries said in a statement it would “cross check allegations made by ABC Four Corners regarding compliance and any issues regarding the Barwon Darling catchment and implementation of the Basin plan”.
“DPI Water refutes the claims it lost its appetite for compliance and works closely with water enforcement authorities to achieve prosecutions where adverse activities are detected and proven.”
Xenophon called for the NSW Icac to investigate and he joined Hanson’s-Young’s call for a Senate inquiry.
“These allegations made last night were so serious, going to the heart of issues of enforcement, if there was any attempt to interfere with the enforcement of the plan to deal with issues of water meter tampering, then that ought to be looked at by Icac,” Xenophon told the ABC.
“[A Senate inquiry] needs to be done in the context where witnesses come forward so that they have absolute privilege and that they cannot fear that their jobs will be affected.”
Xenophon said he was contacted on Monday night after the program aired and he predicted there were more serious allegations to come.
“Effectively what we have seen here is an attempt to sabotage the plan but the sabotaging appears to be happening at the highest levels of a state government,” Xenophon said. “This must be dealt with as a matter of urgency.”
Xenophon is a key senator who holds three votes and thus the key to the Turnbull government’s legislative program if Labor and the Greens oppose government bills.
In the past, he has threatened to withdraw support from any government legislation over the Murray-Darling basin plan and specifically South Australia’s share of water.
Hanson-Young confirmed she would refer the Murray-Darling basin plan to a Senate inquiry once parliament resumed, to investigate the allegations.
“South Australia, the environment and taxpayers are all being screwed while a misuse of water caps is being used to line the pockets of big irrigators upstream,” Hanson-Young said.
“The Murray-Darling basin plan cost taxpayer $13bn, an extraordinary amount, and now we see the river isn’t even getting its fair share. This abuse of money and water should alarm all taxpayers.”
MLDRIN chair Rene Woods, representing 25 sovereign First Nations with links to the river system, said governance of the river system was broken.
“Water that has been dedicated to protect our environment and paid for by Australian taxpayers, is being sucked up and turned into profits for a cabal of wealthy agribusinesses,” Woods said.
“Senior public servants appear to have colluded with irrigators to assist their campaign against the Murray-Darling Basin plan. Aboriginal communities have watched as their sacred rivers are degraded, impacting on community health and threatening our ability to sustain our unique culture.”
Xenophon said the report showed behaviour that was undermining the 2013 intergovernmental agreement between the states and the commonwealth.
“It concerns me that it seems that the NSW government has been giving inside information to irrigators, giving them debranded documents, in other words documents that they have inside knowledge of in terms of the way the agreement is being implemented which could give them an advantage,” Xenophon said.
“But it also concerns me more than anything that there appears to be an attempt to undermine the agreement to ensure the agreement isn’t enforced. That sort of thing goes to the heart of the agreement.
“If you can’t enforce the agreement, if there has been a tampering of water meters, if water effectively has been diverted or taken away or in effect stolen, then that is the sort of thing that will destroy the effectiveness of this agreement.”
Labor’s spokesman on water and the environment, Tony Burke, who negotiated the basin plan in 2013, said the purpose of the reform was to restore the system to health.
“If any states are allowing the theft of environmental water then there is no Murray-Darling basin plan,” Burke said. “[National party leader and federal water minister] Barnaby Joyce and the NSW government must respond in the strongest possible terms.
“Any attempt to make excuses or explain away the issues raised in last night’s program will simply expose an intention from the Liberals and Nationals to destroy the Murray-Darling basin plan.”
Before the program went to air on Monday, Joyce said it was a state issue and the federal government had ensured under the Northern Basin Review that measures were more efficient to get water back to the environment.
The director of the Australian Conservation Foundation, Paul Sinclair, also called for Icac to investigate allegations which could amount to one of the largest known cases of alleged water theft in Australia’s history, as well as evidence that the NSW government did nothing to stop it.
“Instead of saving the river, it looks like the Murray-Darling basin plan has made a fortune for a lucky few,” Sinclair said. “The government has to step in to fix abuses now if we are going to save our most precious water system.
“Billions of dollars of public money has been given to irrigators and irrigation companies in the Murray-Darling basin over the last decade to secure water flows for rivers and upgrade irrigation infrastructure.
“Communities across Australia and in the Murray-Darling basin deserve to know why it appears laws to stop the theft of water flows haven’t been enforced by the NSW government.”
ACF is also backing a Senate inquiry into the dealings taking place in the Barwon-Darling.
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