Member for Murray Helen Dalton has been calling for a water royal commission for years. Photo: Supplied.
NSW Parliament has unanimously backed a federal royal commission to investigate water corruption, despite the premier arguing against the need for the inquiry.
Water policy in Australia has been plagued by scandals over the past decade – including illegal diversions of water by cotton farmers in Northern NSW, Chinese government ownership of Gwydir Valley water and an $80 million government buyback deal at twice the market rate in southern Queensland in 2017.
Independent MP Helen Dalton put forward a motion calling for a royal commission on Wednesday (4 February).
In a debate, she argued that billions of taxpayer dollars had been spent on the Murray Darling Basin Plan, but we still see “confusion, division and serious collapse in trust”.
“After massive water recovery and enormous disruption … we still see the fish kills — we have one today. We still see blue-green algae; they are all over the state. We still see river systems under stress.”
Earlier, she asked NSW Premier Chris Minns if his government backed a national inquiry in a question without notice.
“I know a bit about royal commissions of late, but I am just not convinced that on this issue it is the correct way forward,” Premier Minns responded.
Labor MP and former shadow water minister Clayton Barr also spoke against the need for a royal commission, saying there’d been enough reviews into river management.
It was a change of position for both Mr Minns and Mr Barr, who previously supported the need for a water royal commission when in opposition during a parliamentary debate on the same topic in August 2019.
At the time, Mr Barr called on the then Coalition Government “to endorse the position of the deputy premier for a royal commission into the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan for the purpose of openness, transparency and accountability”.
Mr Minns spoke in favour on the motion, calling it a “sensible” idea.
“The government has had nine years to do something about [water mismanagement], despite the scandals, the corruption, the investigation, they have done bugger all about it,” he said in 2019.
Confusion about NSW Labor’s position intensified when the party refused to vote against Ms Dalton’s pro-royal commission motion on Wednesday, allowing it to pass parliament unanimously.
“The Premier said one thing in Question Time and his government did the exact opposite on the floor of parliament just hours later,” National Party Cootamundra MP Steph Cooke said.
“This is not a minor slip-up, it is a glaring sign that the government cannot keep its story straight on water, which is the most important resource our communities rely on.
“Unlike Labor, the Coalition is united in supporting a Commonwealth royal commission into water management after years of flawed policy and growing concern in basin communities.”
However, when in government, the Coalition did not formally endorse or hold a royal commission into water at either state or federal level.
Mrs Dalton called on the major parties to stop acting out of political convenience.
“We recognised the problem in 2018. We debated it in 2019. It was raised again in 2020,” she said.
“Six years later, communities are still paying the price because governments chose not to act.
“When billions of dollars are spent and entire communities are disrupted, people deserve to see the evidence, understand the decisions and trust the process. Right now, they don’t.”
The motion passed by the NSW Parliament for a royal commission would need to be enacted by the Federal Government for the inquiry to go ahead.
Region asked federal Water Minister Murray Watt if he supported a federal royal commission into water. He did not respond, instead forwarding our enquiry on to his department for a response. The department did not answer our question either, providing a statement reiterating its support for the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
The NSW Premier’s office was also contacted to clarify NSW Labor’s contradictory position, but did not respond.
Original Article published by Oliver Jacques on Region Riverina.
