The 2024-25 Budget for water is about as clear as a carp filled water way with the headline figures marked “not for publication” and the remaining figures, a clever example of sleight of hand at best, according to Shadow Water Minister, Perin Davey.
Senator Davey noted the biggest winners out of the Labor Government’s water budget are the Canberra bureaucracies who get extra funds for 184 new staff and ‘policy development’ while the losers are communities throughout the Murray Darling Basin and northern Queensland.
“The deferment of funding for the Paradise Dam, Big Rocks Weir and the Hughenden Irrigation Scheme beyond the forward estimates is hugely concerning, particularly for the communities who were relying on these projects for water security,” she said.
“A further cut of $200 million – described as ‘savings’, from the National Water Grid, shows the Labor Government are not as committed to water security as their glowing press releases would have you believe. They are cutting as much as they are spending.
“Meanwhile Labor would have you believe they initiated the Great Artesian Basin rehabilitation process, which actually commenced in 1999, by continuing the process of fixing leaky bores and cracked pipes. Nothing new there.
“The Murray-Darling Basin has to be the biggest obfuscation in budget history.
“It is an insult to impacted regional communities that Labor is still hiding how much funding it has allocated to water recovery in the Murray Darling Basin. These are the water buybacks which will drive up the cost of food and pour more fuel on the cost-of-living crisis.
“Without knowing how much has been allocated it is impossible to take any assurances from the Albanese Government that they have the budget under control and billions of dollars isn’t missing from the water portfolio.”
Senator Davey compared the known from the unknown in the Budget.
“We know there is only around $1 billion remaining in the Water for the Environment Special Account – funds set aside to deliver 450 GL over and above the Basin Plan targets.
“We also know that based on the most recent Government tender the Government paid over $7,600 per megalitre. So simple maths tells us it will cost at least $3.42 billion to recover that volume.
“What we don’t know is if the Government has anywhere near that much money set aside. All we see from the Government is secrecy,” Senator Davey said.
Senator Davey said it’s disappointing there is also nothing in the budget for the Native Fish Strategy, complementary measures or actual environmental outcomes that should be the focus of the Basin Plan.
“Environmentalists and irrigators alike would find this budget devoid of any real investment in Australia’s water sources,” she said.
ENDS
