MEMBER for Murray Helen Dalton has welcomed the NSW Premier’s agreement to “actively oppose” federal water buybacks.
The Independent MP said the Federal Government was taking more than 450 gigalitres of “desperately needed water from rural communities in the Murray-Darling Basin”.
In Question Time on Thursday, Premier Chris Minns said his government “opposed” water buybacks.
“Premier Minns has maintained for a while now that he doesn’t support the buybacks, but not supporting them is not the same as actively opposing them,” Mrs Dalton Helen said.
“After today that all changes.
“We can now expect the Premier and his government to actively fight these disgraceful Commonwealth buybacks.”
Mr Minns said his government didn’t support water buybacks, “particularly in regional communities that rely on primary industries and wonderful export-led industries”.
“Let me say it in an unambiguous way: We oppose Federal Government water buybacks in New South Wales,” he said.
“We accept the economic theory that taking that kind of money out of regional communities is devastating to all of the ancillary services that small towns in regional New South Wales rely on.
“It might be the accounting practice; it might be the law firm. It may be the school teachers or those who work in the local hospital. All of them rely on the economic churn and prosperity that comes alongside agriculture.”
Mrs Dalton said when you took valuable irrigation water away from communities, you destroy those communities.
“Chris knows how hard it is for people in rural NSW to survive attacks like this, and he knows how important it is to protect the people of rural NSW,” she said.
“I know a lot of people in my electorate of Murray will take comfort in the knowledge that the NSW Premier is now stepping up for this fight against the Commonwealth.”
Mr Minns said agriculture was a “massive part of our export economy”.
“We are under pressure when it comes to minerals,” he said.
“By any objective analysis, the number one export from New South Wales is coal, and we need to be cognisant of other opportunities to fill that export gap in the years ahead.
“Agriculture is a leading part of that. We cannot do it without water.
“I acknowledge the advocacy of the Member for Murray on that issue.
“She has pursued the issue with a single-mindedness that has seen the New South Wales Government release an Alternatives to Buybacks Plan.
“Under that plan we will, in all ways, aid river management and environmental practices, and avoid the hit to the regional economy that comes from buybacks.”
Meanwhile, an inquiry into the impacts of water policy on NSW residents, particularly water buybacks, has been launched.
The inquiry will specifically look at the impacts of Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023 on regional NSW communities and is being led by the NSW Government’s Committee on Investment, Industry and Regional Development.
Its chair is independent Member for Barwon Roy Butler.
Mr Barwon has wasted no time in launching the inquiry, and is already reaching out to basin communities for feedback that would inform the inquiry.
“We want to understand how the new federal water legislation affects local communities, businesses, and environments, especially those who depend on water the most,” he said.
“Changes to water use, such as buybacks and rules-based changes, affect regional communities that rely on water allocation for business, tourism, town water supplies and the environment.
“It’s important to understand how changes will impact regional communities and identify any risks posed by the legislation.
“The sustainability of communities who rely on the Murray-Darling Basin is vital to New South Wales.”
More information, including the inquiry’s full terms of reference and how to make a submission, is available at www.parliament.nsw.gov.au/committees/listofcommittees/Pages/committee-details.aspx?pk=172.
Submissions close on April 14.
