Sussan Ley (Farrer, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Childcare and Early Childhood Learning) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities has no doubt been a little bit hopeful that a lack of appearances by members on the floor this week might indicate that irrigators and communities throughout the Murray-Darling Basin have been soothed by his recent statements on water reform. As the member for Mallee quite rightly attempted to do yesterday, I can inform the House, and particularly the minister, that the mood of yesterday’s community consultation meeting at Wentworth-Mildura was one of confusion on all sides. Around 1,800 concerned, confused and, in many cases, angry people attended the two consultation sessions. And I might mention, yet again, that a representative from the other side of this House failed to front to find this out for themselves. Elsewhere, our key farming lobby around the basin, the New South Wales Farmers Association, has taken the extraordinary action of demanding the authority withdraw the plan, arguing it would speed up population decline in regional areas—in contrast to this federal government’s aspirations to maintain them.

We have also heard this week that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s guide to the guide—which the government does not now endorse or know its correct legal status—needs further clarification from the Australian Government Solicitor to decide whether it can come close to reality. If this is real and genuine consultation, as the minister revealed to the House yesterday, perhaps he could make time to attend the next meeting tomorrow in Albury, in my home electorate, to make sense of this mess.