20 March 2024
Murray Darling Basin communities are being neglected by the NSW Labor Government after the Water Minister admitted she has done nothing to minimise the social and economic pain of potential future water buybacks.
NSW Shadow Water Minister Steph Cooke is calling on the Water Minister to start work immediately on developing a framework around structural adjustment packages for the regional towns that will be hit hardest, should the Commonwealth commence water buybacks as part of the revised Murray Darling Basin Plan agreement.
“Believe it or not, when asked during Budget Estimates about the work the government is doing around structural adjustment packages for communities who might be impacted by water buybacks, lo and behold all the Water Minister has managed to do is commission yet another report,” Ms Cooke said.
“I suppose it should come as no surprise that this city-centric NSW Labor Government has absolutely no clue when it comes to regional communities, and instead, needed a report to tell it what the rest of us out in the regions already know.
“This Minister could have saved a lot of time and money if she had just gone out to the regions and talked to communities directly; she would have quickly learnt first-hand that water buybacks decimate regional towns and villages.
“It’s truly alarming to think that this Water Minister signed us all up to an agreement – the details of which we still know nothing about – without having any idea about the inevitable consequences,” she said.
Ms Cooke implored the Water Minister to travel to the regions as soon as possible, and meet with communities to hear their concerns, and listen to the fears they hold around their future.
“The Minister’s excuse seems to be that she hasn’t started work on adjustment packages because she doesn’t want to give the Commonwealth any ideas; newsflash, the Commonwealth has already set their sights on water buybacks to achieve their 450GL environmental water target,” Ms Cooke said.
“All you’re doing Minister is neglecting communities by failing not only to prevent buybacks from happening in the first place, but leaving them literally high and dry by not preparing them for the worst should buybacks go ahead,” she said.