Less than a week after farmers from across the country travelled to Canberra to vent their anger at a government bereft of common sense, the embattled Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek has proven to be tone deaf by opening two more water buyback tenders.
Despite claiming all options being on the table to recover water, Minister Plibersek has shown buybacks are preference according to Shadow Water Minister, Perin Davey.
“This is now the third open tender buyback process run by this Government while there has been no movement on management options and environmental solutions like complementary measures,” Senator Davey said.
“Much like their single solution approach to powering our nation through renewables, Labor are adopting a single solution approach to the Murray Darling Basin which is buybacks only.
“To see Labor re-open buybacks in two valleys in the northern basin after failing to get enough interest in the first ‘bridging the gap’ tender while ignoring community feedback showing an appetite for a water use efficiency program shows the Minister is not interested in anything but buybacks.”
Senator Davey said recently released results of the previous buyback show the Government has in some cases paid 200% over the going market rate for water products while the cost to the local communities is ignored.
“Taxpayers will need to find billions of extra dollars under Labor’s single solution Murray Darling Basin plan, while farmers and their communities are crying out about the undermining of their regional economic viability and making food staples more expensive at the supermarket exacerbating Labor’s cost of living crisis.
“This pursuit for buybacks comes on the back of an MDBA report that shows consumptive water use in every valley across the Basin is below the sustainable diversion limit, which raises the question whether these expensive buybacks are even needed.
“It is also opening at the same time as the Inspector General of Water Compliance has released an audit into the Department’s handling of the previous tender finding ‘information barrier arrangements were not effective in supporting compliance with Basin Plan requirements.’
“The Minister needs to assure Australians that the Department have taken the necessary steps to secure the probity of the process, that they now have effective information barriers, that there are no conflicts of interest and that all staff have attended all required training.
“Even though Labor won’t tell us how much they plan to spend on their single solution Basin Plan, we already know the last buyback round was over $205 million taxpayers’ dollars and they didn’t have effective processes – not good enough,” Senator Davey said.
Senator Davey said she stands by the farmers protesting about the Albanese Government’s anti-agriculture agenda.
“Whether it is banning live sheep exports, making business report on scope three emissions – which will flow down to farm businesses, the biosecurity farmer tax or water buybacks; this Labor Government does not care about one of our most productive sectors.”
ENDS