Senator Barnaby Joyce welcomes the House of Representatives Committee on the Murray-Darling Basin’s adoption of the Coalition’s water policy at the last election.
In its Murray-Darling Basin election policy, the Coalition announced on the 11 August 2010, that if in Government it would:
Release new guidelines for the process of water buybacks
The Coalition will approach water buybacks in a more strategic way. It will consult more closely with irrigators and local communities to establish the true costs of removing irrigated farming in different areas and the impact of restrictions on land use imposed as a result of buybacks or exit grants.
To deal with these issues of improved water use and land management practices, the Coalition will release new guidelines for the water buyback scheme. Water buybacks will ensure that there is a long-term sustainable future for irrigation communities along with its existing objectives related to reducing over-allocation where evident and providing for environmental flows. This will align the water buyback’s objectives with those of the water-saving infrastructure investment program.
This change will assist in the Government obtaining water in the most cost-effective way for the environment and for communities. These changes to the water buyback approach will have no net financial impact over the forward estimates.
Senator Barnaby Joyce said “The House of Representatives Committee today has called for a more strategic approach to water buybacks along these lines. This has been Coalition policy for over half a year and the Coalition supports this move.
“I particularly congratulate the Labor members of the Committee in seeing the merit of the Coalition’s policy.
“It is unclear why the Government has ignored the Coalition’s call for a more strategic approach originally made 182 days ago.
“Indeed, Mr Windsor was briefed on the Coalition’s policy during the negotiations to form government. It is unclear why he didn’t push the Government to adopt parts of the Coalition’s Murray-Darling policy at the time.
“Perhaps now the Government will listen and stop blaming others for their bungled approach to the Basin, and finally start the clean up.
“Mr Windsor still refuses to investigate whether the Water Act can actually deliver the triple-bottom line that all major parties are promising, that is an equal balance between economic, social and environmental factors.
“This is despite the fact that Mr Windsor said that he made these announcements today to relay to the Government the concerns that people have raised with him. Well the Water Act has been raised 59 times by witnesses in the first 6 Committee hearings.
“Why isn’t Mr Windsor responding to these concerns, at the very least by investigating their basis?
“It would appear that for Mr Windsor the Water Act is the legislation that dare not speak its name.
“I call for the House of Representatives inquiry to consider the findings of the Senate inquiry into the Water Act, which will report ahead of the House of Representatives inquiry.”