THE final report of the Senate Inquiry into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has received mixed reviews from interest groups, but has found general support from those representing local irrigators.
Presented to parliament on March 17, the 200-page report titled ‘Refreshing The Plan’ included 31 recommendations and was informed by 399 submissions.
With the Senate Committee failing to agree on the inquiry’s findings, the document was only a chair’s report and included four dissenting statements with alternative recommendations from the Greens and Labor parties and independent senators John Madigan and Nick Xenophon.
Among the recommendations were calls to end water buybacks; to make clear the equal standing of the plan’s prescribed economic, social and environmental needs and outcomes in the Water Act; and for the Commonwealth to assume liability for private property damage from environmental watering events.
Attention was also drawn to the reported inefficient implementation of the Goulburn-Murray Water (GMW) Connections Project, with a recommendation to initiate a national audit of the project and judicial inquiry into its operation.
The report found broad support from local and statewide irrigator representative bodies such as Southern Riverina Irrigators, the NSW Irrigators Council, Cotton Australia and the Speak Up campaign.
“We believe many in government will be horrified at the economic cost of the plan, especially at a time when Australia is supposed to be transitioning from a ‘mining boom’ to a ‘dining boom,” Speak Up spokesperson Shelley Scoullar said.
“When there is a greater awareness of this economic cost, we believe there will be a corresponding awareness of the need to adjust the plan to provide more balance between environmental and productive needs from limited water resources.”
However, not everyone was in a congratulatory mood.
The Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) rejected the report as an “insulting waste of taxpayer’s money”, saying the committee’s treatment of Aboriginal people had been “insulting and dismissive”.
“As traditional custodians, we are deeply worried by the state of the Basin’s rivers and waterways. Our rivers are telling us that the Country is sick,” MLDRIN Chair and Ngintait man Darren Perry said.
“We need adequate environmental flows to ensure that our wetlands, native fish, birds and forests can survive and flourish. We need cultural flows to sustain our communities, build resilience and wellbeing.
“The Committee’s Report provides no substantive recognition of Aboriginal issues, despite detailed submissions, presentations and letters from key Indigenous organisations.”
Environment Victoria was equally as critical, saying the committee had “degenerated into farce” with dissenting reports and disputed recommendations.
“Both the Murray and the Darling are showing intense signs of stress and the chair’s recommendations don’t pick up on the urgency,” Environment Victoria’s Healthy Rivers campaign manager, Juliet Le Feuvre, said.
“Nobody thinks the Plan is perfect but it is the best chance we have to achieve benefits for both rivers and communities.”
