Water policy
Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:35): (381) My question is for the Minister for Water. Minister, on Monday irrigators in Greater Shepparton held a huge rally to protest against the federal government’s water buybacks. While the rally was taking place, the federal minister insensitively revealed that she had done a dirty deal with the Greens to pass the legislation needed to support the buybacks. Minister, you have said you will not support water buybacks in Victoria, but as Dr Mansfield pointed out, that does not stop buybacks. Minister, will you ensure that for every megalitre purchased by a Commonwealth-sanctioned buyback an equivalent amount is released back into the irrigators pool from the Victorian Environmental Water Holder’s holdings to ensure that no water is lost to food production in Victoria?
The PRESIDENT: I am concerned that might be a hypothetical question, but I will put it –
Members interjecting.
The PRESIDENT: I am concerned it is hypothetical about actions of people outside this jurisdiction, but I will put the question to the minister.
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:37): Thanks, Ms Lovell. Firstly, I am aware – very, very aware – of the positions being taken by the Murray group of councils and by communities such as Shepparton, Mildura, Swan Hill and other parts of basin communities impacted by the proposed legislation before the federal government. This is legislation that constitutes a fundamental difference between the policy settings of the Commonwealth government and those of the Victorian government. Our longstanding opposition to buybacks remains unchanged. Removing the cap on buybacks as contemplated by the Commonwealth legislation is something that Victoria has opposed and continues to oppose. Buybacks harm communities. Buybacks cause jobs and communities to be lost and otherwise to be compromised. Everybody agrees that buybacks have an impact. The socio-economic criteria were entered into to provide a measure of safety, certainty and security, which was, as it relates to certainty, one of the founding objectives of the Murray–Darling Basin plan when jurisdictions entered into it in the first instance.
Ms Lovell, when buybacks occur they are about a transaction that irrigators enter into to sell their water to someone other than another irrigator. Firstly, I do not accept the characterisation of foreign ownership of entitlements as being a useful contributor to this discussion. In Victoria we have at least 50 per cent less –
Wendy Lovell: On a point of order, President, I never said anything about foreign ownership of water.
The PRESIDENT: There is no point of order.
Harriet SHING: The national average is around 11.2 per cent. Here in Victoria we have under 5 per cent of foreign ownership, so let us park that, because that is not relevant to the question of what happens when buybacks occur.
Buybacks take water out of the consumptive pool. They take it away from the access by irrigators, by food producers, to be able to do things such as produce all of the goods that are created in this food bowl of Australia. Water held by the environmental water holder is there for very specific purposes. It is already allocated to the environmental water holder. The position that Victoria takes is that to remove water from the consumptive pool to sell it to the Commonwealth is a decision that does not interface with the water held by the Victorian Environmental Water Holder. I will continue to advocate for Victoria’s position in opposition to buybacks, and I hope that that position continues to be well understood.
Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:40): I take that as a no. Minister, if you are not prepared to release the water from the environmental water holder’s holdings, are you prepared to legislate to ensure that no further water can be purchased out of the Victorian irrigators pool for the environment via the Commonwealth-sanctioned buybacks?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:40): Ms Lovell, the Commonwealth constitution is pretty clear. I would invite you to check out section 109, which relates to laws that are made and, where they are inconsistent at a state level with any law that is contemplated by the Commonwealth under the relevant head of power, those laws being void to the extent of any inconsistency. What I would, however, say to you, Ms Lovell, is that Victoria signed up to the Murray–Darling Basin plan. Victoria has delivered more than any other jurisdiction in returning water to the environment. I would like to see that we are in a position to be able to continue to do so without sustaining any harm to communities. I would also like to see that enduring support is provided to Victorian communities and that the impact for environments in Victoria is recognised in Commonwealth funding decisions going forward.