Greens engage in reckless environmental vandalism for a media headline; “experts” need to understand political realities

 The Greens’ attempt to destroy the Murray Darling Basin Plan would hurt environmental outcomes in the basin, Minister for Water David Littleproud said today.

The Greens have lodged a disallowance motion on the Northern Basin Review, a crucial part of the Plan, and have signalled intent to lodge a disallowance on the entire Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism.

 

“If this political stunt by the Greens succeeded, it could destroy the 3200 Plan,” Minister Littleproud said.

 

“I’m committed to delivering the Plan on time and in full.

 

“We’ve recovered 2090GL for the Plan, and that may be all the river gets if the agreed Plan is blown up. It would be extremely difficult to get agreement from Victoria, NSW and Queensland to continue giving up huge volumes of water if the agreed Plan has been smashed.

 

“The river would lose, rural businesses would face uncertainty and rural communities would lose too. Years of further water wars would rip certainty from rural communities, rural business including farms, and the environment. People are tired of this fight. They want it to end.

 

“The Greens need to decide whether they’re interested in the environment or politics.

 

“We have a South Australian Greens Senator arguing against the return of water to the Murray Darling Basin – it’s absurd. If the Greens are truly concerned with the river and its frogs, fish and birds, they should support the Plan. If they want less water for the river and its wildlife, the Greens will try to disallow the Plan and its instruments.

 

“Water returned to the system has already seen an increase in grey teal and black-winged stilt populations; frog numbers in the mid-Murrumbidgee have risen and Moira grass and in-stream vegetation is increasing. Why stop returning water to the river?”

 

Minister Littleproud said “experts” calling for the Murray Darling Basin Plan to be paused needed to understand political realities.

 

The “experts” have called for a halt to recovering water for the environment through on-farm efficiency upgrades, which see farmers improve their water efficiency, with the river receiving water back in return. They’ve also called for a halt to recovering water through off-farm upgrades, such as upgrading drains or channels to pipes to stop water leakage.

 

“Halting the return of water to the river will not fix the river,” Minister Littleproud said.

 

“It took years of negotiation and compromise to arrive at the Murray Darling Basin Plan. We’re at the crucial intersection now.

 

“If any basin state pulls out, the Plan falls over.

 

“The ‘experts’ state water buybacks cost less than efficiency upgrades. We’ve known that for years. The problem is buybacks decimate rural communities forever as they mean less produce is grown by farmers, meaning less jobs on the farm and in the local town. Buybacks are a simplistic fantasy solution to a complex problem. The plan which Tony Burke passed demands further water recovery have no negative social or economic impacts – buybacks can have negative social and economic impacts. In any case, the plan caps buybacks at 1500GL – we’ve done around 1225GL of buybacks already.

 

“Putting more water into the northern basin will not open the Murray mouth. The best analysis says of 70GL returned to the rivers in the north, just 4.3 per cent makes it to the SA lower lakes.

 

“Water metering is already being rolled out in the northern basin.

 

“We already have several reviews of the Plan running including the yearly evaluation by the Murray Darling Basin Authority, and the PC review of the basin plan implementation will begin shortly – Terms of Reference have already been agreed with the states.

 

“The best thing for the river system and river communities is to stay the course on the Murray Darling Basin Plan.”