LABOR VOTES TO SUPPORT NORTHERN BASIN INSTRUMENT DISALLOWANCE

After days of negotiations with the Government, Labor has voted in the Senate to support the disallowance of the instrument dealing with the Northern Murray-Darling Basin – the Basin Plan Amendment Instrument 2017 (No. 1).

 

For the Plan to be effective, it must be delivered in full. Labor will continue to seek assurance that the additional 450 gigalitres of water for the environment is delivered and the health of the river is restored.

 

Australians need confidence that environmental water paid for by them isn’t diverted to irrigation dams.

 

Labor acknowledges that since the new Minister for Water has been appointed there has been significant progress. This has been necessary to unravel the mess that was caused when Barnaby Joyce walked away from the 450 gigalitres of environmental water in 2016.

 

Labor is confident that there is a pathway to get the Plan back on track.

 

A number of issues need to be resolved but critically water theft and corruption must be stopped. The 450 gigalitres must be back on the table. The Plan was only made possible through compromise and people choosing to look for solutions rather than conflict.

 

Last night, the failings caused by water theft and the Deputy Prime Minister’s decision in 2016 to put a question mark over the 450 gigalitres had not yet been resolved. That left Labor with no choice but to disallow.

 

These issues can be fixed and they must be.