Cascading reports ring alarm over failing Murray Darling Basin Plan

MEDIA RELEASE – 30 November 2017

Four separate reports in the last few days have all rung the alarm bell over the progress of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, underlining the need for a federal Royal Commission into the administration of the Murray Darling Basin.

Since last Saturday the following reports have released:

• Murray Darling Basin Authority Water compliance review
• Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists Review of water reform in the Murray Darling Basin
• Ken Matthew’s Final Report into water management and compliance in NSW;
• Australian National Audit Office review of New South Wales’ Protection and use of Environmental Water in the Murray-Darling Basin.

NSW Greens water spokesman Jeremy Buckingham said:

“We have had cascading reports concluding the Murray Darling Basin Plan is failing and billions of taxpayer’s dollars are being wasted on projects that are not restoring our rivers and wetlands.

“These report indicate that the Basin Plan is on the brink of failure because of recalcitrant states, a tame Murray Darling Basin Authority, a dysfunctional water market that is being rorted, a lack of compliance, and National Party water ministers acting to destroy it.

“Water is a very complex issue where government decisions can result in windfall profits, so it is ripe for corruption and fraud.  Revelations over the last few months are ringing the alarm bells that compliance is rotten and the Murray Darling Basin Plan is failing.

“The Murray Darling Basin Authority is captive and tame, when it should be a fierce proponent for restoring healthy rivers and taking on parochial interests such as state governments and the irrigation industry.

“Everywhere we look, the National Party, in cahoots with big irrigators and tame bureaucrats, are conniving and maneuvering to keep irrigators canals full, and stop water being returned to our rivers and wetlands.”

“The states are cooking up schemes and projects that reduce the amount of water being returned the rivers, or putting in place regulatory barriers to prevent proper environmental flows.  It looks like they are actively working to retard the progress of the Basin Plan.

“The Greens are calling for a federal Royal Commission into the administration of the Murray Darling Basin.”

Cover Up King Blair fails transparency test

MEDIA RELEASE – 22 November 2017

The NSW Greens have accused water minister Niall Blair of covering up maladministration of water compliance and enforcement after the government used its numbers in parliament to block 18 votes to 15 votes, the public release of three separate ombudsman reports.

In his latest interim report the NSW Ombudsman says:

 “The concerns raised in earlier investigations continue to be a strong theme in the current investigation, and are summarised in this progress report.”

The Ombudsman has produced three separate reports on water compliance and enforcement in 2009, 2012 and 2013.  None of these reports have been made public by the minister.

NSW Greens water spokesman Jeremy Buckingham said:

“This was a test to see whether water minister Niall Blair was fair dinkum about transparency, and he has flunked it badly.

“The Ombudsman made it clear in his interim report that many of the issues now causing scandal were raised in a series of reports dating back as far as 2009.

“It is important to see what information and recommendations the Ombudsman made in previous reports, and whether successive NSW Government took the conclusions of these report seriously or enacted the recommendations.

“Next time water minister Niall Blair says he is not acting to cover up this scandal, remember that he voted to block the public from reading what was in these three ombudsman reports.

“The National Party should be stripped of the water portfolio and there should be a Royal Commission in to the administration of the Murray Darling Basin.”

A test to see whether water minister Niall Blair is fair dinkum or covering up?

MEDIA RELEASE – 21 November 2017

NSW water minister Niall Blair faces a test to see whether he is fair dinkum about cleaning up corruption and mismanagement in water or whether he is covering up.

The NSW Ombudsman has produced three separate reports on water compliance and enforcement in 2009, 2012 and 2013.  None of these reports have been made public by the minister.

The Greens will move tomorrow for these reports to be tabled in parliament through the powerful Standing Order 52, which, if passed, will require the documents to be produced within 14 days.

NSW Greens water spokesman Jeremy Buckingham said:

“For too long minister Blair has been dodging and weaving pretending he is about transparency on the water scandal, but moving to cover things up.

“Here is a simple test for the minister:  will he support the public release of these three past ombudsman reports, or will he try to use the numbers in the parliament block their release and keep the public in the dark?

“Last week the NSW Ombudsman took the unusual step of directly tabling a damning interim report on water compliance and enforcement which noted that similar issues had been reported in three previous reports, but little had been done to deal with the issues for a decade.

“If the government blocks the release of these three reports, then you can be certain they are not interested in transparency, they are only interested in covering up.”

The following motion will be moved by formal business in the Legislative Council on Wednesday 22 November 2017.

1784. Mr Buckingham to move—

That, under standing order 52, there be laid upon the table of the House within 14 days of the date of

passing of this resolution the following documents in the possession, custody or control of the

Department of Industry and the Minister for Primary Industries, Minister for Regional Water, and

Minister for Trade and Industry:

(a) the first second and third NSW Ombudsman’s reports of 2009, 2012 and 2013 referred to at

pages 9, 10 and 11 of the “Investigation into water compliance and enforcement 2007-17: A

special report to Parliament under section 31 of the Ombudsman Act 1974,” dated November

2017, and

(b) any legal or other advice regarding the scope or validity of this order of the House created as a

result of this order of the House.

Ombudsman’s report exposes water compliance as rotten to the core

MEDIA RELEASE – 15 Nov 2017

A special report to the NSW Parliament by the NSW Ombudsman exposes that water compliance and enforcement has been rotten to the core for almost a decade and the government has failed to act despite repeated and detailed warning by the Ombudsman.  Previous Ombudsman reports in 2009, 2012 and 2013 told the government of the serious issues with compliance and enforcement, yet the government has failed to act and refused to publicly release those three Ombudsman reports.

NSW Greens water spokesman Jeremy Buckingham said:

“It’s clear that enforcement of water law does not function in NSW and is rotten to the core.  Some of these revelations are worse than 4 Corners or the Matthews Report.

“The government has been repeatedly warned by the Ombudsman that water compliance and enforcement is rotten, yet has turned a blind eye and deliberately hid previous Ombudsman reports from the public.

“It is only because the Ombudsman used his powers to go around the water minister and have this interim report tabled in parliament that we now know just how rotten things are in Water NSW.

“We need a broad ranging Royal Commission to investigate water in NSW so that all the issues and allegations that are out there are thoroughly investigated independently.

“Water minister Niall Blair must have known about the serious compliance and enforcement issues, but has done nothing but stonewall and cover up.  Enforcement actions have plunged under Minister Blair from 820 in 2014/15, to 200 in 2016/17.

“The Natural Resource Access Regulator Bill currently before parliament is a case in point.  The Bill fails to properly implement the recommendations of the Matthews Inquiry that compliance and Enforcement be controlled by an independent body.  The bill leaves responsibility with the Minister and the Department of Primary Industries, thus failing to deal with the conflict of interest identified by Ken Matthews and the Ombudsman.

“The Nationals must be stripped of the water portfolio or it will remain an area of maladministration and ripe for corruption.”

Some highlights from the Investigation into water compliance and enforcement 2007-2017:

• The Ombudsman initiated his investigation in July 2016. He referred one matter to ICAC in April 2017.
• Previous Ombudsman reports in 2009, 2012 and 2013 warned about serious issues – were kept secret by the government.
• Compliance officers were ‘press ganged’ into the role without proper training or skills.
• Water NSW staff allege they were directed not to investigate or had their delegations removed.
• No enforcement action had been taken on unlicensed dams that contained large volumes of water and were being used for irrigation purposes without the required water access licences or water allocations in a water sharing plan area.
• The transfer of some compliance and enforcement functions to Water NSW under the Transformation was having a debilitating effect on the conduct of enforcement activities across the State.
• There were systemic failures by senior management, in both past and current regimes, to take action on water compliance matters.
• Expenditure on compliance between 2012 and 2016 was $10 million less than recommended by IPART.
• Excessive delays in completing investigations and taking enforcement and prosecution action and of matters that were not being sufficiently prepared before the relevant statute of limitation periods expired.

Broken Hill pipeline business case a poor excuse for killing the Darling River and Menindee Lakes

MEDIA RELEASE – 23 October 2017

NSW Greens water spokesman Jeremy Buckingham today said the release of the business case for the Wentworth to Broken Hill water pipeline showed the government was again preferencing big cotton irrigators over the health of the Darling River and expecting the residents and businesses of Broken Hill to pay for it.

NSW Greens water spokesman Jeremy Buckingham said:

“This business case is a plan to spend a huge amount on an unnecessary pipeline so that the government can let the Darling River die and kill the Menindee Lakes by bypassing them and emptying them far more rapidly when they do fill.

“It is the brainchild of former Deputy Director-General of DPI Water Gavin Hanlon and his department who are now under investigation by ICAC for allegedly conspiring with a cohort of big cotton irrigators on the Upper Darling.

“The business case was clearly written with the government’s preferred answer in mind – a pipeline that will allow them to run the Menindee Lakes dry and allow more water to be taken out of the Darling River by upstream irrigators.

“The business case objectives fail to consider the environmental, amenity, recreation, tourism and cultural values of a healthy Darling River and Menindee Lakes – issues that should be central to a truly triple-bottom line approach.

“The business case fails to assess the option of a combination of smaller projects to address water security needs, instead opting for the big expensive pipeline option.  A combination of other smaller infrastructure and management options, as well as long-term efforts to restore the health of the Darling River was not considered.

“The business case rejects ‘water licence buybacks to secure Menindee Lakes supply’ because it would mean less water for upstream cotton production.

“It is presented as a fait accompli to the people of NSW, without any of the detailed modelling or public debate about the various options.  The business case should not have been kept secret and released only after the government has awarded the tender.  This is disgraceful governance from Water Minister Niall Blair.

“The pipeline will encumber the residents and businesses of Broken Hill with significant ongoing increases to their water bills.  They are being forced to pay for something they don’t want and for the Menindee Lakes to be downgraded to just a temporary storage for South Australian irrigators.

“Water Minister Blair says this pipeline is necessary because water buybacks are unpopular.  However, buybacks are only unpopular with his big irrigator mates.  Most Australians want to see the water buybacks necessary to restore our major rivers and wetlands to a healthy state.”

Nationals should be stripped of water portfolio after damning report

MEDIA RELEASE – 11 September 2017

 

The NSW Greens today called on the National Party to be stripped of the water portfolio after the interim report by Ken Matthews sparked by a 4 Corners investigation found “water related compliance and enforcement arrangements in NSW have been ineffectual and require significant and urgent improvement” and revealed that ICAC was investigating allegations of corruption; Kevin Humphries may have told irrigators to pump during an embargo; and that a ‘systemic fix’ is required, including a new independent ‘Natural Resource Access Regulator’.

NSW Greens water spokesperson, Jeremy Buckingham said:

“The National Party should be permanently stripped from holding the water portfolio.  We cannot have the fox in charge of the henhouse, especially when National Party donors are getting favourable treatment by ministers, MPs and senior public servants.

“The current government made a massive mistake in putting the Department of Primary Industries in charge of water.  There is an inherent conflict of interest of making water allocations subservient to the interests of the agricultural industry.

“The role of Troy Grant’s office and former minister Kevin Humphries is extremely concerning and highlights the role of the National Party in mismanaging water resources and potentially corruption the administration of the Water Act.

“The Greens welcome the recommendation to set up an independent Natural Resources Access Regulator, and believe the water portfolio should be held by the environment minister.

“The government should move swiftly to implement all the recommendations made in this report.  Mr Matthews is correct in saying that the irrigation industry’s social licence is at stake and that restoring public confidence will require more than incremental change.

“The last three National Party ministers have all worked to undermine the Murray Darling Basin Plan and to implement legislative and regulatory changes in favour of big irrigators.  This is having real impacts on the health of our rivers and has totally undermined public confidence in water management in NSW.

“I am concerned that Water NSW failed to give the Matthews Inquiry access to supporting documentation until the 24 August, with further deliver on the 29 August – possibly contributing the delay of this interim report until after Budget Estimates hearings where Minister Blair continually dodged questions citing the impending interim report.

“The Greens support recommendations to require meters on all pumps, publishing meter readings in real time, remote sensing of crops and water holdings, and strong enforcement of the law.”

Water theft should not be retrospectively legalised

MEDIA RELEASE – 3 August 2017

NSW Greens water spokesman Jeremy Buckingham slammed the Berejiklian government for moving to retrospectively legalising flood works that have been illegally built between 1994 and 2017.

Struggling Water Minister Niall Blair gazetted the Floodplain Management Plan for the Barwon-Darling Valley Floodplain 2017 on the 29 June 2017.  This plan contains a new Section 39 which gives the minister the power to approve flood works that have been built illegally even if they do not comply with the normal requirements (details below).

“Many of these areas are so flat that even a 10-20cm bank can divert a huge amount of water into an irrigation dam and away from natural waterways.  It’s a massive gift of water to the big irrigators. If we want to recover the water in the future then taxpayer will have to hand over huge amounts of compensation for what were illegal constructions,” said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.
“It’s complete shonky that National Party water minister would seek to retrospectively legalise these illegal works and water thefts.  This is disgraceful example of the National Party giving away free water to their big irrigator mates.
“Our rivers are running dry and downstream communities are facing ruin because of the mismanagement by the National Party.

“Premier Berejiklian should strip the water portfolio off the National Party, put compliance with the Water Management Act under the supervision of the environment minister, and facilitate a special commission of inquiry into this widening water theft scandal.

“These illegal channels and dams divert a vast volume of flood water away from natural waterways and into irrigation storages, making a few greedy irrigators rich at the expense of Australian rivers.”

Former Water Minister Kevin Humphries pushed through some major changes to the Water Management Act in 2014, which allowed them to create these flood plain harvesting licences. It essentially means any illegal flood harvesting works built since 1994 can be made legal retrospectively.  This has now been enacted by current Water Minister Niall Blair.

http://www.legislation.nsw.gov.au/regulations/2017-328.pdf

 

Section 39 of the recently gazetted Floodplain Management Plan for the Barwon-Darling Valley Floodplain 2017 allows illegal floodplain works which were made before the creation of the plan to be made legal by the Minister even if they don’t meet the environmental requirements under Section 38.  It also allows them to be amended without complying with the requirements of Section 38:

 

“A flood work approval in Barwon-Darling Management Zone A may be granted for a flood work that does not comply with the requirements of clause 38, provided the flood work meets all of the following criteria:

(a) the flood work was constructed as at the date of commencement of this Plan,

(b) the flood work is, in the Minister’s opinion, for:

(i) an access road, or

(ii) a supply channel, or

(iii) a stock refuge, or

(iv) an infrastructure protection work,

(c) as at the date of application, the flood work is not the subject of:

(i) an undetermined controlled work application under Part 8 of the Water Act 1912, or

(ii) a previously refused Part 8 application of the Water Act 1912, or

(iii) an undetermined flood work application under the Act, or

(iv) a previously refused flood work application under the Act.

(2) An amendment of a flood work approval in Barwon-Darling Management Zone A may be granted for a flood work that does not comply with the requirements of clause 38, provided the flood work meets all of the following criteria:

(a) the flood work was constructed as at the date of commencement of this Plan,

(b) the proposed modification to the flood work will, in the Minister’s opinion, reduce the impact of the work on flow patterns (distribution of flows, drainage, depth or velocity) in Barwon-Darling Management Zone A.

(3) An application under this clause must be assessed against the assessment criteria outlined in clause 40 of this Plan.

Two years on, Wilcannia still waiting for weir report

MEDIA RELEASE – 12 October 2016

Almost two years after it commissioned a feasibility study into building a new weir for Wilcannia, the government still has not released a report. NSW Greens water spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham said today that once again the people of Wilcannia are put last by the government.

“This is turning into a farce. They’ve spent two years on a report and won’t even release it.  They could have built a new downstream weir in that time to help revive the town of Wilcannia,” said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.

“The Greens are concerned that the bean counters will find a reason to dud the people of Wilcannia yet again on a cost/benefit analysis.

“Around 80% of Wilcannia residents are of Aboriginal decent.  It has one of the lowest life expectancy and highest social disadvantage in Australia.  To deny the people of Wilcannia basic infrastructure and some secure water in the river as it flows through town would be a shameful decision.

“This government is prepared to spend half a billion on a pipeline from Wentworth to Broken Hill, which it admits is primarily about benefiting wealth northern irrigators, yet it won’t build a new weir for Wilcannia.”
Photos of Jeremy Buckingham at William Bates at Wilcannia weir available here.

Watch Question & Answer on YouTube here.     Download footage here.

HANSARD: WILCANNIA WEIR

11 October 2016

Mr JEREMY BUCKINGHAM ( 16:39 ): My question without notice is directed to the Minister for Primary Industries, and Minister for Lands and Water. Two years ago, on 30 October 2014, the New South Wales Government committed $189,000 to a feasibility study into an upgrade of the Wilcannia Weir and associated works. When will the Government release this feasibility report? When will the Minister build a new downstream weir for the people of Wilcannia?

The Hon. NIALL BLAIR (Minister for Primary Industries, and Minister for Lands and Water) ( 16:40 ): I thank the member for his question. It is an important issue for the people of Wilcannia. I note that the member opposite has jumped straight to the conclusion that he wants the downstream weir completed. However, there are alternatives. Some say that we should be looking at upgrading the existing weir; some are talking about a downstream component; others are saying that we could do both.

Mr Jeremy Buckingham: Two weirs?

The Hon. NIALL BLAIR: There are some who have said that we could build two weirs. One could be addressing the water quality issue and the other could be used for amenity purposes. But the member is not aware of that, he is not aware that there are many variances associated with such projects. The New South Wales Government has engaged consultants to complete a feasibility investigation for a new weir at Wilcannia. The investigation includes a business case and associated scoping study. Department of Primary Industries—Water has received the feasibility investigation reports, including a scoping study and a business case for the Wilcannia Weir.

While there has been criticism of the time taken in completing the study, it must be understood that there are a number of considerations and detailed analyses required. Once the final reports have been reviewed, they will be considered by the Government and future stages of the project can then be discussed. We need to assess the feasibility study and give due consideration to the findings before we know what the next steps are. These reports are important steps to inform the Government about the feasibility and anticipated costs of a possible replacement weir so that the matter can be considered.

Mr JEREMY BUCKINGHAM ( 16:42 ): I ask a supplementary question. Will the Minister elucidate his answer in relation to the feasibility study? Was a cost benefit analysis conducted within that feasibility study? Can he tell the House what that cost benefit analysis may or may not have said?

The Hon. NIALL BLAIR (Minister for Primary Industries, and Minister for Lands and Water) ( 16:42 ): In answer to the first question I spoke about scoping studies and business cases; that has already been covered.

Baird condemns the Darling River to death with $500 million panic pipeline

MEDIA RELEASE – 16 June 2016

The Greens NSW water spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham today accused Premier Mike Baird of condemning the Darling River to death, by committing to a $500 million pipeline from the Murray River to supply Broken Hill, rather than spend money and create policies to revive the Darling River as Broken Hill’s water supply.

“This is a tragic day for the Darling River and Menindee Lakes.  Today Mike Baird has confirmed the worst fears of those living in Broken Hill and the far West.  Building this pipeline facilitates the Darling River being sucked dry by upstream irrigators without causing water problems for Broken Hill,” said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.

“The National Party has always wanted to hand over more water from the Darling to cotton irrigation, and now they’ve convinced Mike Baird to lay down $500 million to make it happen without the headache of Broken Hill running out of water.

“Burning through a huge amount of money for a panic pipeline which will not solve the water crisis is the wrong way to go.  The government should be committing to policies and works that will revive the Darling River and make the Menindee Lakes more efficient.

“The Greens believe the answer is to revive the Darling River.  To implement policies to ensure surface water flows down the Darling from small and medium rain events, rather than having all the water taken by irrigators in Southern Queensland and NSW.

“The Greens believe the $500 million should instead be spent on infrastructure works to make the Menindee Lakes System more efficient, including raising Weir 32, installing a regulator between Lake Menindee and Lake Cawndilla, and buying back Cubbie Station or at least some of their water rights to return flows to the river.

“The death of the Darling River has been caused by human mismanagement.  Today’s announcement only facilitates more mismanagement to the detriment of Broken Hill, all those who appreciate and rely on the Darling River, and the environment.”

Barnaby a fool on water management

MEDIA RELEASE – 9 June 2016

The Greens NSW water spokesperson Jeremy Buckingham today labelled Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce a ‘fool’ after the federal water minister excused irrigators and blamed the environment for the water crisis in the lower Darling and Broken Hill.

“It’s instructive that Barnaby Joyce only visited Broken Hill because his plane was diverted from elsewhere,” said Greens MP Jeremy Buckingham.

“Barnaby Joyce is a fool.  He denies the reality of climate change.  He blames the environment for man-made problems, and pretends upstream irrigation is not a problem for the Darling River.

“The foolish Barnaby proposed 27 new dams and irrigation projects in his 2014 Agriculture Green Paper.

“He is a water minister for big corporate irrigators only.  He clearly doesn’t care about family farmers and graziers going to the wall, let alone Broken Hill or the environment.

“Barnaby conveniently ignores the vast amounts of water used for huge cotton crops by his mates Southern Queensland.

“He’s like a cartoon character from the 1950s, with his head in the sand about the situation and simplistic engineering solutions.

“Barnaby Joyce has spent more time talking about Johnny Depp’s dogs than working on solving the crisis in the Murray Darling.”