THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER

E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
PARLIAMENT HOUSE, CANBERRA
TUESDAY, 28 NOVEMBER 2023

SUBJECT: RESCUING THE MURRAY-DARLING BASIN PLAN

TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: The Albanese Labor Government was elected with a commitment to deliver the Murray-Darling Basin plan in full. The Restoring Our Rivers Bill is our effort to do that. It gives more time, more money, more options, and more accountability.

I was very pleased yesterday to say that with a number of amendments the Greens political party could agree to support the Restoring Our Rivers Bill and I'm delighted to say today that Senator David Van has also agreed to support the bill with a number of amendments that he has proposed to me and that I have accepted.

Senator Van raised with me that he had some concerns about the social and economic impacts of voluntary water purchase and so I've agreed to two important changes to the Bill. The first is to make it very clear that leasing water rather than buying it is an option available to us to achieve the targets in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. I've said all along that voluntary water purchase is not the only tool in the box, that we are looking at. On-farm, off-farm efficiency measures, and a range of other options, and with this clarification about leasing, that puts another option on the table. 

Senator Van has also asked me to clarify that I will consider the social and economic impacts of any water purchasing program and that I will report to the Parliament annually about the way that I have considered any such impacts, and I've agreed to that amendment as well. Senator Van asked for another amendment which was for me to retain the cap of 1,500 gigalitres of water to be purchased and I'm not able to do that. That would fundamentally change what I'm proposing to do with the Restoring Our Rivers Bill, which is to put more options on the table, not to take options off the table when it comes to achieving the objectives of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Senator Van and I have had good discussions about his concerns. He doesn't agree with everything in this bill, I think it's fair to say, and he was particularly raising his concerns about how this may impact dairy farmers and rice growers and I have sought to give him assurances about how we will minimise any social and economic impacts of voluntary water purchase and how I will continue to say voluntary water purchases are is not the only tool in the box when it comes to delivering a Murray-Darling Basin Plan. We're looking at all options, I want to take a commonsense approach to delivering on the objectives of the plan.

I want to urge other senators. We are now at a critical time. If this bill doesn't pass this year, then all of the automatic timelines of the previous legislation come into effect. So it's not good for the environment if this bill fails to pass this year. It's also not good for farmers because what we see are automatic reconciliations, projects that could save water, projects that have their timelines extended under our Restoring Our Rivers legislation, will actually lapse, and that water would have to be recovered in some other way.

I've said consistently that there is something for everyone in this bill, extending the timelines for delivery of water saving, infrastructure projects, making sure that there is social and economic structural adjustment funding available, maybe making sure that we finally deliver for the environment in the way we've been promising to do for a decade. There is something for everyone in the Restoring Our Rivers Bill and with these sensible amendments, I believe we've strengthened the bill further and I want to thank the Senator for the constructive way that he's worked. 

SENATOR DAVID VAN: Thank you, Minister. I do thank you for the good-faith negotiations we've entered into. It's made it a pleasure to be able to help improve this bill. This bill's important because it will deliver water to our rivers which, if you look at the Darling Baaka right now, needs water, whereas the Murray really doesn't. There's parts of it that have been underwater for two years and river red gum forests have died.

So what the amendments I've done in this bill do is it allows a bit more flexibility into how the CEWH can get water entitlement. So by leasing, it takes away some of the damaging impacts that buybacks have. By losing that in perpetuity part of it that goes with the buyback, farmers are more likely to want to lease their water back on order of the environmental water and it gives some flexibility in their business. Leasing term might be 12 months, could be 5 years, could be 30 years, but that allows the CEWH to hold that water as an entitlement, as an asset on their books, which then they can use for environmental reasons.

The second part about being able to consult, consider, and report to the Parliament makes it clear that the Minister will, as I believe she will, look at the socioeconomic impact of what the buybacks and leasebacks are doing and enable the whole of Parliament to be assured that the right things are being done by the rivers and by the communities that feed off it. Any questions? 

JOURNALIST: Minister, on the issue of leasing, would that be done on, you know, the commercial market through water brokers or will there be some other provision there?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, we'll look at that in the program design. So just to be very clear about how water purchase is working at the moment. We're currently in the market for around 44 gigalitres of water to complete another part of the plan. That process has taken close to nine months because we need to design the program, we need to have proper probity advice to make sure that we're not doing anything improper or hurting the water market in any way. We will make sure that we design a program around water purchase and water leasing that takes into account the socioeconomic impacts that the Senator is talking about, and we will make sure that any leasing is done with all of those probity checks in place as well.

JOURNALIST: It won't be done through the environmental water holder portfolio?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: If it is held water that the Commonwealth Environment Water Holder can use for environmental reasons, we will make sure that it can be credited against that use. 

JOURNALIST: Questions for Senator Van. Senator Van, in regards to the changes that you've obviously had today, how is that going to better protect Victorians? And on another issue, what was the outcome of the PWSS inquiry into the alleged sexual harassment allegations?

SENATOR VAN: I'm not going to talk to you about that today. It's an ongoing confidential process so I'm not going to talk about that at all.

But the benefits to Victorians is quite enormous. The food bowl of Victoria is irrigated. A large part of it relies on water from the Murray getting through there. If buybacks alone had just been allowed to go through, it was likely that we were going to see 25 per cent of the Victorian dairy industry disappear. So the benefits for Victoria are enormous. For jobs, for the communities, for industry are quite enormous.

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: We've got Senator Dodson here so I will make this my last answer so we're not interfering with Senator Dodson's time with you. But can I say this: right now the Victorian Government has on offer to it, hundreds of millions of dollars from the Commonwealth Government to help deliver the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. That's what's on offer to the Victorian Government. The Victorian Government has said they don't like buybacks, well neither does Senator Van, neither does the New South Wales Government.

What those people have recognised is that as the Commonwealth Government, we will have to do some voluntary water purchase and the deal for Victoria, should they sign on, is we do voluntary water purchase, we're always going to do that, plus they get extra money to help finalise the projects that they're interested in, water-saving projects, they get extra money to help with structural adjustment, it actually makes no sense the Victorian Government position, and I really respect the fact that Senator Van has taken a common sense approach to this.

But I see that we've got Senator Dodson here now so I will leave you in his good hands.

JOURNALIST: Negotiations continuing?

MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Yes absolutely.

END