INDEPENDENT Member for Murray Helen Dalton labelled water buybacks “lazy and destructive”, pleading with the Federal Government to find another way to recover environmental water.
Mrs Dalton has called for a royal commission after a deal was struck last week with the Greens and independent senators David Pocock and David Van in which the Federal Government secured the support needed to rewrite the Murray-Darling Basin plan.
The updated legislation would remove the cap on the amount of water the Commonwealth could buy from farmers to meet environmental water- saving targets, and voluntary water buybacks would be reintroduced.
“We need transparency and accountability and voters need to know who has been promised what,” Mrs Dalton said.
“Buying back 450GL from distressed farmers was already going to devastate regional families and communities and anything more will just add to the pain.
“I cannot believe that this government is so ignorant about this issue considering how many alternatives I have given them.”
Mrs Dalton proposed a Bill to block the sale of water from NSW to the Commonwealth for the environment if the socioeconomic neutrality test was not met, but it was not supported by the NSW Government.
Nationals leader and Member for Murray Plains Peter Walsh also slammed the move from the government, believing the collateral damage of “this incredibly naive and short-sighted decision” would be felt far and wide.
“The Greens need reminding those in the inner city would be hungry, naked and sober without hardworking communities such as those in the Goulburn-Murray region,” Mr Walsh said.
“These inner-city MPs will leave a legacy of destruction if they keep ignoring the voices of basin communities – the people who live there, work there, and have local histories stretching back generations.”
Ms Plibersek said the Restoring Our Rivers Bill would offer more time, options, accountability and transparency in terms of water management and recovery.
“This is one of the biggest things any government has done for the environment in a decade,” Ms Plibersek said.
“I said from day one that I was determined to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full, including the 450GL of water from the environment – that’s what I’ve done.
“Delivering this water is one of the most significant thing we can do to protect the environment in this country.”
