NSW Water Minister defends attacking National Resources Commission over drought findings
Melinda Pavey has dodged questions around whether she or her agencies are working on a “Plan B” to pull NSW out of the contentious Murray-Darling Basin Plan at a budget estimates hearing.
NSW
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The National Resources Commission has watered down a report into the Barwon-Darling which previously suggested changes made by the Coalition in 2012 pushed parts of the river system into drought three years earlier than expected.
It comes as NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey defended attacking the NRC over the “provocative statement” during a heated budget estimates hearing yesterday.
In a draft letter sent to NRC chair John Keniry last month, Ms Pavey requested a re-evaluation of the data used to report on the management of the state’s largest river amid concerns its findings were tarnished by a conflict of interest involving its scientific expert, Professor Fran Sheldon.
It followed the release of a draft report which stated: “Expert opinion suggests extractions... pushed the Barwon-Darling below Bourke into hydrological drought three years earlier than upstream river sections.”
The NRC’s final report, released last night, excluded the contentious statement.
However, it did say “extractions … pushed the Barwon-Darling system below Bourke into persistence of very low flow conditions three years earlier than the river upstream.”
Ms Pavey said in a statement the claim had “caused damage to hard working Australian families by blaming them for an early drought; this is both inaccurate and inexcusable”.
Labor’s water spokesman Clayton Barr said it was “unprecedented the government is at war with its own natural resources advisor”.
Ms Pavey was also asked five times at budget estimates about whether she or her agencies were working on a “Plan B” to pull NSW out of the contentious Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
Asked by Labor MP John Graham whether Ms Pavey was “out on your own” attacking the NRC over its findings, Ms Pavey hit back, saying: “I was upset and concerned about a provocative statement”.
“My concern was that a claim … I think it was around 800 gigalitres of water had gone past Bourke at the southern point from ‘16 and only 22 gigalitres was extracted for farming — then that doesn’t bring a system into a hypothetical hydrological drought three years early which was the provocative statement,” she said.
Mr Graham asked: “You’re putting a very different view to any other expert in the field, do you accept that?”
Ms Pavey replied: “What I did was call out a fact that wasn’t borne out by evidence and I don’t resile from that.”
The NRC will release its final report today into water management in the Barwon-Darling today — the NSW government are expected to respond in four to five weeks.
The review was ordered by former NSW water minister Niall Blair in the wake of major fish kills in Menindee.
Ms Pavey also denied instructing her agencies to work on removing NSW from the Murray-Darling Basin Plan but dodged questions about whether she was aware if they were working on an alternative arrangement.
Labor MP Mick Veitch asked: “Has there been any work done at all then around preparing NSW to exit the Murray Darling Basin Plan?”
Ms Pavey said: “I haven’t sent out that instruction”.
Mr Graham then asked: “Are you aware if there’s work going on for a Plan B to pull NSW out of the basin?”
“What I am doing is dealing with drought, infrastructure, our communities and we will continue to monitor our relationship, our process and the way we are listened to and respected by the MDBA (Murray Darling Basin Authority),” Ms Pavey said.
Ms Pavey and NSW Nationals leader John Barilaro last month issued a press release last month which called the plan “untenable”.
Asked whether this was still her belief, Ms Pavey said only “parts” of the plan were “completely untenable”.