SA Government anger over Murray Darling Basin Authority plan to cut 70 billion litres from River Murray

PLANS to strip 70 billion litres from the historic agreement to secure the future of the Murray Darling Basin have intensified fears and uncertainty over the river’s precarious health.

• Weatherill threatens war against Federal Government over Basin plan
• Analysis: Minister’s tirade leaves river adrift
• Premier accuses Joyce of walking away from River Murray deal
• River Murray is ‘again at risk of a slow death’

PLANS to strip 70 billion litres from the historic agreement to secure the future of the Murray Darling Basin have intensified fears and uncertainty over the river’s precarious health.

The Advertiser understands the Murray Darling Basin Authority will today propose that water recovery targets be cut — for the first time since the agreement was signed in 2012.

Premier Jay Weatherill yesterday threatened to launch a taxpayer-funded attack on the Federal Government, as political bickering escalated over whether the Murray Darling Basin Plan is being eroded.

He viewed any changes to the plan as a betrayal, branding it “a breach of trust”.

“We’ve been dudded for 100 years,” he said. “What you do is call it for what it is — ratting on a deal.”

SA Senator Nick Xenophon, whom the Federal Government needs to pass its union regulation Bills, has indicated that the fight over water could impact on those negotiations, telling The Advertiser it was a “key issue”.

After a long fight spearheaded by The Advertiser’s I Love Murray campaign, an agreement was struck in 2012 to restore 2750 billion litres of flows to the river by 2019.

The deal was intended to create a balance for all users — including the environment — to ensure it is managed in a sustainable way.

A key aim is to keep the Murray Mouth open and stop dangerous salt build-up in the Coorong.

Subsequently, then-Prime Minister Julia Gillard added 450 billion litres to be cut by 2024. This totalled 3200 billion litres of flows that were supposed to be restored.

Today, the Authority — the statutory agency that manages the basin’s resources in the national interest, in conjunction with the Basin states — will propose cutting 70 billion litres from the original 2750 billion litre target.

This would be achieved by reducing the cut in the Northern Basin from 390 billion litres to 320 billion.

The Northern Basin extends through Queensland and NSW, but is much drier and flatter than the Southern Basin.

The move comes immediately after Federal Water Minister Barnaby Joyce — who is a supporter of upstream irrigators — said it was “bleeding obvious” that the promised 450 billion litres in extra environmental flows could not be provided under the legislation which required there be no detrimental social or economic impacts, particularly to farmers.

The Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council said it was committed to ensuring that any changes would have “no negative impacts on triple bottom line outcomes in the Southern Basin (which includes South Australia)”.

However, that will not reassure interest groups which are increasingly concerned about changes to the plan.

It is not clear what effect the 70 billion litre Northern Basin cuts will have on SA’s flows, although it is understood the council has been told it would be restored in other ways.

In the past, the Australian Conservation Foundation has warned this would be the first time since the plan was conceived that more water has been allocated to irrigation.

State Water Minister Ian Hunter — who stormed out of a meeting with other ministers after a foul-mouthed tirade last week — said yesterday more work needed to be done to assess possible impacts on SA.

“We need to understand the impacts that the Northern Basin Review outcomes might have on the southern connected system, and how those impacts will be mitigated,” he said. “No negative impact on the Southern Basin will be acceptable.”

Water is pushed through the Murray mouth, in an attempt to clean out the system.

The changes will go out for an extended 11-week public consultation period.

Senator Xenophon and NXT Member for Mayo Rebekha Sharkie have organised to meet with Mr Joyce and Mr Hunter to talk through the 450 billion litres.

“I’m trying to build bridges not burn them,” Senator Xenophon said, adding that Mr Joyce “needed to know that it’s not about SA, it’s about the integrity of the entire Murray Darling Basin Plan”.

“If the Government is going to break its promise on water, what else will they break their word on? It would make me incredibly wary of dealing with the government at this stage.”

In a communiqué issued in Adelaide after the water ministers met, the MDBA said consultation with the public would begin shortly.

Mr Joyce, who is also acting Prime Minister, was questioned in Parliament yesterday over the additional 450 billion litres; he said there wasn’t a “hope in Haiti” of delivering the water.

Mr Joyce said a budgeted $1.7 billion was still on the table but may well have to be used for efficiencies rather than water recovery. He has called on Mr Hunter to be part of those discussions.

“We had a crack at these civil negotiations,” he said.

“And we went down and met a rather interesting chap, Mr Hunter. He had a few things to say; most of them Old Saxon terms.

“After he sort of filled the room with blue and got stuck into one of your colleagues, he then slammed the door then proceeded out into a public restaurant ... where he continued his profanities until he made it to a door and started eating an ice cream.

The Murray Mouth, seen from the air.

“My humble request is that when we go to SA to actually talk to the Labor Party minister, that he stays for more than 10 minutes in the meeting.”

Mr Weatherill accused Mr Joyce of “tearing up” the plan.

“My ultimatum to the Prime Minister (Malcolm Turnbull) is that he must reinstate this agreement, recommit to this agreement, or we will reinvigorate our Fight for the River Murray campaign, and it will be directed at him,” he said.

“(Mr Turnbull) needs to repudiate (Barnaby Joyce) and to put him back in his box. Pull this bloke into line or face a campaign.”

SA Liberal Senator Anne Ruston has complained to Mr Weatherill about Mr Hunter’s conduct at Leigh St restaurant Rigoni’s, which included the word “f...” although claims he used “c...” were denied.

Mr Weatherill has defended Mr Hunter as “standing up for the river”.

Mr Joyce’s appointment as Water Minister was criticised at the time because it meant the Murray Darling Basin Plan fell under agriculture rather than environment as it had been previously.

The Australian Conservation Foundation has slammed the Authority’s “dangerous plans” to increase water extracted in the Northern Basin, and is urging all Australians to speak out against the proposal.

ACF’s healthy ecosystems manager Jonathan La Nauze said rather than act in the interests of all basin communities and future generations, the Authority seems to be listening only to a select group of upstream irrigation lobbyists.

“What the Basin Authority proposes in its Northern Basin Review is without precedent and is potentially against the law,” he said.

“If this proposal goes ahead it will cause ongoing harm to threatened species of native fish and waterbirds and to the wellbeing of Aboriginal communities, river towns and businesses, floodplain graziers and the recreational fishing industry.”

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce told ABC radio Tuesday morning the 70 billion litre cutback was “what you need to drive an economy” and that the proposed 320 billion litres was still a lot of water.

He says the plan was always based on an assessment of “the facts”.

“It always talks about a balance between social outcomes, economic outcomes and environmental outcomes, and one should never reign supreme over the others - you just can’t do that to people,” he said.

“Althought it’s not my decision, I do strongly support it.”

Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) Chief Executive Phillip Glyde said the proposal would be better for “communities and regional economies while still improving the health of the basin for future generations”.

The MDBA will today start taking submissions on the proposed Basin Plan amendments, which also include a cut in three groundwater area water recovery targets.

Submissions to the ammendments close on 10 February, 2017 and will be considered before a final draft ammendment is completed.