SA wants water ‘theft’ inquiry

Murray-Darling Basin Plan at risk from NSW ‘guzzlers’

The upstream states cannot be trusted with the health of the river.

SOUTH Australia is calling for a judicial inquiry into the misappropriation of billions of litres of water from the River Murray.

An ABC Four Corners report has found that in the Barwon-Darling system – a critical link in the wider Murray-Darling Basin – NSW Government water rules have given irrigators more reliable access to water than before 2012 when the Basin Plan was signed.

The findings revealed that water bought by taxpayers to save Australia’s inland rivers was instead being harvested by some irrigators to boost cotton-growing operations.

SA’s Minister for Water and the River Murray, Ian Hunter, vented his anger that NSW public servants at the highest level were allegedly complicit in undermining their own water laws and subverting the intent of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Mr Hunter said the findings confirmed “our deep suspicions about the level of commitment of New South Wales to comply with the Basin Plan”.

“What did the New South Wales Government know about this, and when did they know it?” he said.

“That government has questions to answer.”

He said the NSW Department of Primary Industries and the NSW Government couldn’t be trusted to investigate themselves and called for an urgent COAG meeting to commission a judicial inquiry.

“I reiterate that it is critical to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full and on time, especially the 450 gigalitres of water we know is needed for the long-term health of the River Murray,” he said.

“The revelations also underscore the need for national leadership because the upstream states cannot be trusted with the health of the river.”

A gigalitre is a billion litres.

South Australian senator Nick Xenophon said a federal judiciary inquiry was required because the allegations were so “widespread and serious” and potentially went to the top of the NSW Government.

Inland Rivers Network president Bev Smiles said the irrigation industry in NSW had a “powerful and unhealthy relationship with bureaucrats and political leaders”.

Australian Conservation Foundation spokesman Paul Sinclair said communities across Australia and in the Murray-Darling Basin deserved to know why it appeared laws to stop the theft of water flows had not been enforced by NSW.

Environment Victoria healthy rivers campaigner Juliet Le Feuvre said the NSW Government had left downstream users and the environment “hanging out to dry”.

“Victorians and South Australians are being short-changed by NSW water guzzlers,” she said.

The NSW Department of Primary Industries said in a statement yesterday: “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.

“The State remains committed to the Murray Darling Basin Plan and to ensuring it is delivered in a way that balances economic, environmental and socioeconomic concerns, and puts local communities front and centre.” — The Advertiser

and staff writers