Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

We have learnt a lot when it comes to water, particularly since the introduction of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan many years ago. It is true that, prior to the plan, the water wars did create a lot of uncertainty in our communities. There were those who thumped the table and said, 'You can never have our water.' There were those who thumped the table and said, 'We should completely end all forms of cotton growing or rice growing because they take too much water from the system.' We've come a long way from those days, from the days when people burnt the plan in protest. I want to acknowledge in this contribution on the Water Amendment Bill 2018 the mature role that these communities and the irrigators in the agricultural sector have played. They have said to all of their political representatives: 'We need to remove the politics from water. We need to focus on the plan and on the regions.' There's been a real acceptance and even an embrace in many of these communities of the positive impact the plan is making.

I want to acknowledge the work, particularly in the southern basin region, that communities and farmers in the agriculture sector have engaged in to really modernise and reduce their water impact. It is quite remarkable when you walk on farm and see the change that is occurring. Yes, we got some things wrong. Yes, in the early days there were projects that probably weren't the best projects. But as we grow in this plan and really mature we are learning more and more about the best way to become more water efficient and to return more water to the system.

I've had the opportunity to meet with rice growers and with cotton growers on farm. What you learn when you are on a header or on a picker does go a long way to really help understand where our growers and our farmers are coming from. Take cotton for example. Today they've reduced their water usage in the southern basin by about 40 per cent. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan has also helped unlock water in the region. Farmers who previously did not have a water entitlement or access to water can now purchase water on the temporary water market.

I do note that, whilst this plan doesn't look at the water market, there's work that we need to do in another space around the impact of the water market to truly ensure that it is a fair market. The idea of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is we do need to have steps in place. It does need to be a robust plan that is able to reflect changes to the environment, changes due to drought and what may or may not be impacting on our rivers. Many people may not know this, but Bendigo is one of the electorates that is at the base of the plan. Whilst we are not on the Murray, we are very much part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Water has always been a strong concern in my part of the world. We know that our river systems do not have the same inputs that they once had to the Murray. Because we are having drier seasons, the Campaspe and the Loddon are not delivering what they have previously. There are discussions that we have regularly with the catchment management authorities in our part of the world about what we're doing.

As has been outlined, the amendment that is before us has been about us in the federal parliament coming back together in a bipartisan way and engaging about how to get the plan back on track. Nobody for a moment should pretend that this is an easy area of public policy. It isn't just about bipartisanship in this place; it is also about asking states to partner with us on how to deliver and manage the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Being from Victoria, all of you would know the comments of Lisa Neville, the water minister, who said 'not one drop more'. Lisa Neville is the water minister for Victoria and champions the best interest for Victorians. Equally, the same could be said about South Australian water ministers, New South Wales water ministers and Queensland water ministers. That is why it is so critical for us to have a plan that sits over the top of all of our states and works in collaboration. We cannot have a proactive plan that is about achieving outcomes for the system without the engagement of the states. It's just as important to have the states at the table as it is to have both sides of politics in this place at the table.

What also has been delivered in the plan is a commitment around the funding package to help deliver the 450 gigalitres that has been so talked about. We know that this will come through voluntary on-farm water projects with the Commonwealth, and calling for expressions of interest is the first stage. We also know, through work and conversations with the communities and the constituents engaged, that they have some innovative ways that they believe that they can help contribute towards achieving this environmental water outcome. That's the key point I was really wishing to express in this: in the years in which we've had the plan enacted, there has been real engagement, maturity, innovation and transparency that has come from a lot of the communities and the stakeholders engaged about how they can contribute and deliver.

I will be honest: I've met with a lot of dairy farmers and they have real concerns in the Murray region. Some farmers—and you can't hold this against them—sold out in the early days and sold their water entitlement. This is the Swiss cheese effect that we're talking about. In a particular area, you may have lost quite a few people in the system, and then the maintenance of the system that's left is left to the few dairy farmers that might be there. That is a real concern. We have to look at transition; we have to look at how we can help those areas. You can't hold it against the farmers, some of whom were crippled with debt. The banks put pressure on them, they had a water entitlement and so they sold it. With the farmers who are now left, we need to work with them to ensure that the ongoing cost and maintenance in those irrigation systems is fair. How do we make sure that the cost of that is fair?

Then you look to what's going on in the Riverina, and how some of the communities in the Riverina held back a bit and then proactively engaged on how to ensure water efficiency and energy efficiency. They really, really are driving the innovation in this space. There is an opportunity. What Labor is saying is that, 'Well, we can all work together on achieving good outcomes for irrigators and farmers at the same time as achieving good outcomes for the environment.' Transparency is paramount and compliance is paramount. We need to ensure that there is integrity within the plan. There are different interests; just take the states alone. They come to this from very different places. So ensuring that we have transparency and accountability and ensuring that we have compliance are paramount.

I know that in the southern basin, the area closest to me, there was a lot of concern about the issues being raised on what was going on in the northern basin. There were impacts further downstream because of the reports they were hearing about the northern basin. These were starting to concern communities. That is why it's good to see the movement by the New South Wales government and this government to ensure compliance and also transparency, giving those people in the south the security and the confidence in the plan that they need.

Metering funding is critical so that we know how much water is being used in the north. Again, it's to ensure that confidence and transparency going forward. Also, there are: having the modelling being done made available to the public; ensuring that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has the resources that it needs and the expertise that it needs; and ensuring that there is genuine peer review in any work that's put forward so that we can have the confidence in the system going forward.

It is an area of public policy, as I have said, that is vexed and hard to navigate. For 100-plus years we've struggled with it as a country. It's one of those core issues when we debate state rights. But what was agreed in 2012 really put us on the path to resolving this conflict, and only through continued engagement and dialogue can we actually achieve and deliver what is necessary to keep the health of our river and our river system, not just for today but for future generations.

It's also great to acknowledge that in this set of reforms there is funding to assist our First Nations in the north and south basin to acquire water entitlements for cultural reasons. Cultural water is important. I know the engagement with our First Nations around the Gunbower area has really helped to drive changes in how the water is managed by the catchment management authority. It might surprise some environmentalists, but quite often the farmers and the local elders were on the same page about when the water should flow through the Gunbower network and systems.

There are a lot of those lessons, and I think that the point I'd like to end on is that the plan exists to restore health to the basin for all of those reasons: economic, social, cultural and environmental. We can all coexist. It is about open dialogue; transparency; supporting a just transition and funding towards those areas; encouraging innovation; and supporting the good work that's being done and building on those lessons. I understand that those opposite do sometimes like to reignite the wars for political reasons, but that doesn't do much to really help the situation. I do want to acknowledge the efforts that have been made by the minister to rebuild the bridges in those areas.

Unfortunately, not all of the members on the other side come to this debate with that level of maturity. The member for Murray should really reduce the politics in this space and get back to being bipartisan and working with all parties to deliver a just transition in his area. Our agricultural communities and our regional communities have so much opportunity. We do need to work with these areas to ensure that we have strong investment and that so that there is a plan for these areas going forward. Just seeing some of the transformations going on in the Riverina—there are some great things going on in that part of the world that other parts of Australia can really learn from.

Transparency and accountability are critical to the survival of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. Working together in a bipartisan way can deliver on all four key factors—environmental, social, economic and cultural.

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