THE HON TANYA PLIBERSEK MP
MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER
E&OE TRANSCRIPT
DOORSTOP
PARLIAMENT HOUSE
MONDAY, 27 NOVEMBER 2023
SUBJECTS: MURRAY-DARLING BASIN PLAN; ABORIGINAL WATER ENTITLEMENTS PROGRAM; RESTORING OUR RIVERS BILL.
TANYA PLIBERSEK, MINISTER FOR THE ENVIRONMENT AND WATER: Before coming to government, Labor made a commitment that we would deliver the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan in full. We know that under the Liberals and Nationals there had been a decade of delay and deliberate sabotage of the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan. In fact if the plan kept going at the rate that it was going under the Liberals and Nationals, we would have fully delivered it sometime around the year 4,000.
In the first nine months that I was Water Minister, I delivered more water for the environment than the Liberals and Nationals had delivered in the whole nine years of their government, in fact well over 80 per cent of all of the water that's been recovered towards the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan has been done when Labor was in government.
Now, the Restoring Our Rivers Bill is the Albanese Labor Government's proposal to get the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan back on track, so that we can deliver for the three million Australians that rely on the Murray‑Darling Basin river system for their drinking water, for the towns and communities that rely on the river system, for the industry, the agriculture that relies on the river system, and of course for the environment that relies so much on this river system.
We know we're going into another hot, dry spell. We've seen the consequences of that in the past with the mass fish kills, with the 400‑year‑old trees dying on dry riverbanks, with the towns that have had dry river beds for more than a year at a time. We know that as we go into another hot, dry spell, it is more critical than ever that we deliver fully on the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan.
I'm very pleased to say today that Labor has been negotiating with the Greens Party and that we have agreed to a number of significant amendments to the Restoring Our Rivers Bill, to improve the bill and allow the Greens Party to vote to support the Restoring Our Rivers Bill in the Senate.
The amendments go to greater transparency and accountability against water recovery targets, making sure that the water that has been set aside for the environment is actually delivered. Amendments go to making sure that water saving and water efficiency projects that aren't going to be delivered are actually withdrawn, that we are operating off a firm base.
Amendments go to making sure that there's water for the environment in both the northern and southern parts of the Murray‑Darling Basin, and that there is a stronger role for First Nations communities across the Basin in decision making around particularly how environmental water is used.
We're also delivering on the Aboriginal Water Entitlement Program. This was a promise made in 2018 by the previous government and broken by the previous government. $40 million was promised and never delivered by the previous government. As well as delivering on this promise we will be increasing that amount of water set aside for First Nations water entitlements to $100 million.
I want to thank Sarah Hanson‑Young for the very constructive way we've worked together to deliver these important changes to the Restoring Our Rivers Bill and for her support subsequently for the bill. I want to urge other Senators who are thinking about the Restoring Our Rivers Bill this week to get on board. As we go into another hot, dry spell, it is inconceivable that we fail the environment and fail inland communities again as a Parliament.
Labor has a proposal to fully deliver the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan, it's been approved with cooperative negotiations with the Greens Party. We want to see the bill delivered so that we can deliver water for communities and for the environment.
It has to happen this week. If this legislation doesn't pass this week we will go into a range of automatic timelines that come into play under the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan. It wouldn't be good for farmers, it wouldn't be good for rural communities, and it would be a disaster for the environment. Thank you.
SENATOR SARAH HANSON‑YOUNG: Thanks, Minister. I firstly just want to say I'm very thankful for the constructive discussions that Minister Plibersek and I have had over this piece of legislation, and I'm very pleased to be able to stand here today and announce that the Greens will now back this bill with the amendments and commitments that have been made by the Government.
This is a win for the environment. Our river, for far too long, has been at the whims of self‑interest and greed. This arrangement is a breakthrough to ensure that we can get more water delivered for the environment, secured in legislation, to ensure that the river is there for the future.
It's a lifeline, a critical lifeline for the Murray‑Darling Basin. More water for the river itself, for the environment, to give it a fighting chance as we head into this next dry period.
For my home state in South Australia, this is a breakthrough. For over a decade South Australia has been fighting for the 450 gigalitres of water to be in law, to be guaranteed, to be delivered, because it's what the science says is needed to save the lower reaches of the Murray, the Coorong and the Lower Lakes.
So this is a win for the environment, but it is also a win for South Australia. This will mean more water for the environment in both the Southern and the Northern Basins. It will mean more integrity with an independent audit of water throughout the Basin to ensure that we can get rid of rorting, reinstate integrity, and restore trust.
For over a decade the Murray‑Darling Basin has been rorted. The Murray‑Darling Basin Plan has not delivered what it promised to deliver. These amendments and the commitments that we've been able to negotiate with the government today will restore health to the river and trust in the plan. That's absolutely essential.
The $100 million for First Nations communities is vital, First Nations people and their communities have been left out of this plan until now. For the first time First Nations communities will be in the objects of this act and plan, putting them front and centre. Our First Nations communities need a say in how water is managed, an acknowledgement and a recognition that their connection to water is as strong as their connection to land, and that they have a say in how the Murray‑Darling Basin is managed going forward.
Integrity, commitment for environmental water, a guarantee water will flow, and ensuring our First Nations communities are recognised and consulted. This is a significant announcement, and a significant arrangement and agreement that Minister Plibersek and the Greens have been able to reach today. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Minister Plibersek, have you got the numbers now to get this legislation through the Senate?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, we're still negotiating with other crossbench senators, I'm very hopeful of their support for this, and I'm very much hoping we can get this done this week, and I really need to emphasise the critical timing of this legislation.
If this Restoring Our Rivers Bill is not passed while this Parliament's sitting this year, a number of automatic measures come into play that will actually reduce water that is recovered for the environment and really risk the integrity of the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan as a whole.
JOURNALIST: Minister, with the First Nations water fund increase to $100 million, currently the $40 million tranche of funding is years overdue already, it was required to be outlaid before Labor formed government, but it's still a couple of years since Labor formed government and hasn't been delivered. My question is, how will you overcome the go‑slow that it's been; will the Government still wait for First Nations to deliver a fully‑formed coherent delivery model for the funding, or are you going to intervene and try to help remove that impasse?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, this water was promised in 2018, and it was a promise broken by the previous government. Since coming to government we've been negotiating with First Nations communities across the Basin, there are more than 40 groups across the Basin. We've done multiple meetings and consultations to make sure we get the design for a First Nations water‑holding instrument right, and we're very close to finalising those design elements.
But what we've said is that as a government we can begin to buy water and hold it in trust so that it can be transferred to that more independent structure when there is agreement across those groups in the Basin on the full form of the structure.
JOURNALIST: Minister, a number of communities are against water buybacks. Obviously water buybacks do not make up the entirety of the plan to recover water for the environment. How are you going to reconcile that with farmers and irrigators who came out against water buybacks recently?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Look, I understand that there are very strong feelings across the Basin about voluntary water purchase, and there are some people who are opposed to voluntary water purchase. What I've said from the very beginning is that some voluntary water purchase is unavoidable if we are to deliver the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan in full.
By extending the timelines of the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan, as it is now, we actually reduce the need for water purchase. There are a number of water‑saving infrastructure projects that can be completed if we extend the timeframes. If we don't extend the timeframes, as they are now, a number of projects that would save water, that would be good for the environment, will have to be cancelled. That would actually lead to more water purchase.
That's why I say that the Restoring Our Rivers Bill actually has something for everyone. For the Liberals and Nationals there are extensions to the timeframes; it means that more water‑saving projects can be delivered. I've said to the States and Territories, if they've got other projects that they want to bring forward, I'm happy to look at them. There are more options on the table.
We're prepared to fund on‑farm and off‑farm efficiency projects, that there have basically been a hold on over the last decade. We're prepared to work with the States and Territories to make sure that the water rules are effective for the environment, so there will be more flexibility. And of course there are more guarantees, more certainty, more accountability both for the States and Territories but also for the Commonwealth Government.
There is something in the Restoring Our Rivers Bill for irrigation communities, First Nations communities, environmentalists, States and Territories, Local Government. This is an effort to make sure that the objective that I hope we all share, which is to have a healthy river system, supporting human needs like drinking water, agriculture, industry and very particularly our precious environment, that all of those objectives are met.
JOURNALIST: Minister, water buybacks is an issue for Victoria. How are your talks with them going, and are they any closer to signing on to the plan?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, we continue to have discussions with the Victorian Government. I think there's a lot in here for Victoria. There's substantial amounts of additional funding to complete the sort of water projects that I believe the Victorian Government want to see completed. There is, of course, structural adjustment funding for any impacts that we might see in communities, and of course, I do think that the Victorian Government, certainly the Victorian public want to see the environmental benefits of delivering on the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan.
JOURNALIST: Will these amendments, these allow you to reject some of the state raised projects, should Victoria be concerned that you're about to cut off any funding for their [inaudible]?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, a couple of things. If the legislation doesn't pass, if the Restoring the Rivers Bill doesn't pass, a whole lot of projects that would be great projects, that everybody agrees can be delivered with an extension of time, will automatically have to be cancelled. That would be terrible, it would be terrible for taxpayers, would be terrible for the environment, and we don't want to see that happen.
On the withdrawal of ‑ getting very technical here ‑ of the Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism projects that you're talking about, no, my intention is actually with the amendments that the Greens are supporting and proposing, it is to say there are some projects that obviously can't be delivered that were over‑optimistic; when they were designed, they're water recovery proposal was much more optimistic than it's turned out it is possible. Those projects shouldn't just be sitting on the books there, we should have the ability to be realistic about the fact that they're not going to be delivered.
JOURNALIST: Senator, there's a vast volume of water that's yet to be recovered, a significant portion of the initial target. Do you have any confidence that there's sufficient budget to either do the buy‑backs or do new infrastructure projects that deliver the [inaudible]?
HANSON‑YOUNG: Well, we know that if we are going to restore the water that the environment's been promised, the plan all along promised, we will have to buy that water through voluntary buy‑backs, and we know that the only way the 450 is going to be delivered for the environment and for South Australia is to ensure that some of that water can be bought.
The Minister has taken that on board. The amendments that will be moved in the Senate to this bill ensure that will occur, and it's going to be up to the government to make sure they can afford it. I am told that the Minister does have the money, so look, this is about getting the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan back on track to ensure that it's actually looking after the environment.
But remember, the whole purpose of the Murray‑Darling Basin Plan was to save the river from running dry; too much water was being taken out than the river could sustain, too much greed, too much self‑interest, and the environment was losing out. We have to get some of that water returned to the river to give it a fighting chance.
I just want to pick up ‑ there was a question about fellow Senators. I urge all of my fellow Senators to back this bill with the amendments that we have negotiated. It is a win for the environment, and I urge all of my South Australian colleagues from all sides to back this bill.
South Australia has been left high and dry too many times in these negotiations over the past decade. For too long South Australia has been told just to suck it up. Well, no longer. We will get the rules in place to ensure that the water that we need to keep the lower reaches of the Murray healthy will be delivered, and that is a win for South Australia. South Australians will be looking on to see where all South Australian Senators cast their vote on this bill when we get to that point later on in the week.
JOURNALIST: Minister, is there additional funding available, or are you confident that it can be executed with the remaining cash?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: I'm confident that we've got sufficient funding to deliver on the plan. There's a reason that some of the funds are not for publication. If you go into an auction to buy a house, you don't go in with your cheque written and show it to the person running the auction. The Government will be buying some water through voluntary water purchase. It's important that we have as small an impact on water market prices as possible.
JOURNALIST: Do you know how much water could potentially be bought back, and would that water have to come from the lower part of the Basin, or could it come from the Northern Basin as well?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, the final amount of water purchase will depend on a number of things. It will depend on a reconciliation of the water‑saving projects that are happening at the moment, it will depend on whether States come forward with additional projects, it will depend on a range of factors.
I'm not going to put a number on the amount of water that we'll be buying, but I will say a couple of things that we'll be looking for. We'll be looking for water purchases that have the smallest socioeconomic impact, we'll be looking for water purchases that are good value for taxpayers' dollars, and we'll be looking for water purchases that have the maximum environmental utility.
JOURNALIST: And that could be Northern Basin and Southern Basin?
MINISTER PLIBERSEK: Well, one of the changes that we've negotiated with the Greens Party is that it is clear that there will be water recovered in the northern part of the Basin as well as the southern part of the Basin.
Okay. Thank you all.
HANSON‑YOUNG: Thanks everyone.
END
