Water policy
Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:25): (641) My question is for the Minister for Water. At the water leadership forum held in Bendigo last Friday both you and the Premier told the forum you did not support Commonwealth buybacks of water. The Premier also told the forum that this government will always put Victoria first and stand up to the Commonwealth no matter what the colour of government in power. In the weeks leading up to the 2019 federal election the state Labor government ran a million-dollar campaign criticising the Morrison government over health funding. Then in the lead-up to the 2022 federal election the state Labor government ran the $1.7 million Our Fair Share campaign. Minister, will you support Victorian irrigation communities by launching an advertising campaign criticising the Albanese Labor government’s water buybacks?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:26): Thank you, Ms Lovell. I had actually forgotten that you were there, but it was good to see that you were in attendance at the summit last Friday. We have been really clear about our opposition to buybacks in Victoria. We are absolutely determined to make sure that we support northern Victorian communities. I have continued to advocate for Victorian communities as have so many others. When you talk to – and obviously, Ms Lovell, you heard last Friday – stakeholders, including the chair of the Murray River Group of Councils and those members of the Goulburn–Murray irrigation district leadership group, it is clear to them and it is clear to regional communities that we continue to advocate on their behalf.
It is also really important to note that in negotiations with the Commonwealth the operation of Commonwealth law is one of the things that we are working within. This includes a toolkit, of which buybacks are a part, but it is also then something that can and should be guided by the work of our prospectus – those projects which have been identified as opportunities to recover water for the environment and better environmental outcomes without actually doing the sort of volume of damage that we know open-tender buybacks can result in. We know from the work of a number of studies that socio-economic impact is felt as a result of buybacks. We know, for example, that where 100 gigalitres of water is removed from the system, not only does it reduce the volume available in the consumptive pool, it also costs around $140 million a year. We know also – and Ms Lovell, you heard this on Friday last week – that we do see that with the impact of buybacks we have to take into consideration work on the impact of dairy and on the impact of permanent plantings in the event of drought. We know that with negotiations and achieving the funding which we have achieved through negotiation with the Commonwealth for stage 1 of the Victorian Murray Floodplain Restoration Project, we will be able to see environmental benefit without the cost and the detriment of buybacks.
Ms Lovell, I would like to think that the work that we do through advocacy directly with communities, directly with the Commonwealth and directly with the local government authorities and those people on whom this will have a significant and immediate impact is part of a joined-up effort to make sure that our interests are fairly represented and our advocacy is part of a collective effort. If you are asking whether our efforts are being directed in the right direction to achieve results, I would say that the decision by the Commonwealth to fund the stage 1 VMFRP project is evidence of the fact that what we are doing is working. I would encourage you, Ms Lovell, to read the prospectus and to see the work that communities are putting in.
Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (12:29): Minister, given that you have just told us that you are not willing to publicly campaign against the Albanese government, how are you going to stop the Commonwealth buybacks, given that you have no legislative power to do so?
Harriet SHING (Eastern Victoria – Minister for Housing, Minister for Water, Minister for Equality) (12:29): Ms Lovell, you may well have been there last week, but you certainly were not here in the chamber when I just spent 2½ minutes answering that question. We are working alongside the Commonwealth within the legislative framework that was passed last December to amend the work of the Murray–Darling Basin plan through the restoring our rivers bill. That legislation, as you are obviously very well aware, includes a range of factors that must be taken into consideration in the delivery of environmental outcomes. We have worked within those parameters to make sure that the impact of water returned for environmental purposes balances socio-economic impacts and also provides a measure of support for affected communities. When you are inviting the conclusion that we have not taken a public position in opposition to this work, I would invite you, Ms Lovell, to perhaps pick up any one of a number of different newspapers that are published in your region and to listen to any number of public discussions where I have been absolutely unambiguous in our opposition to buybacks and our support for communities.
Wendy Lovell: On a point of order, President, I am just concerned that at the beginning of the minister’s answer she actually accused me of not being in the chamber for the last 2½ minutes. I am concerned that people listening would think that I had left the chamber during question time, and I ask the minister to withdraw.
The PRESIDENT: Minister, please withdraw.
Harriet SHING: You were physically in the chamber, Ms Lovell.
The PRESIDENT: Just withdraw the comment, please.
Harriet SHING: I withdraw.