Barnaby Joyce slams water buyback allegations as ‘horse crap’

An angry Barnaby Joyce rejected suggestions he made a mistake in not asking enough questions on an $80m water deal.

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce. Picture: Gary Ramage

Former deputy prime minister Barnaby Joyce says he doesn’t care whether the full documentation of a controversial $80 million water purchase is released, describing the issue as a “load of horse crap” in a rambling 30-minute interview.

An angry Mr Joyce yesterday rejected suggestions he made a mistake in not asking enough questions before giving the green light to a 2017 buyback deal with Eastern Australia Agriculture — previously linked to Energy Minister Angus Taylor — when Mr Joyce was the water minister. The government bought 28.7 gigalitres of water from two Eastern Australia Agriculture-owned properties — Clyde and Kia Ora in Queensland — at a cost of $78.9m.

The parent company of Eastern Australia Agriculture is based in tax-haven Cayman Islands.

Greens leader Richard Di ­Natale and a string of crossbench senators have led calls for a royal commission into the management of the Murray-Darling river system, with the government coming under new pressure to explain the water purchases.

Mr Joyce was told to “calm down” and be “respectful” during a heated and at times incoherent interview after repeatedly talking over ABC’s RN Dr ive host Patricia Karvelas.

He said it was “not relevant” for him to have asked his department which company the money for the water buybacks was being paid to.

“That is not relevant,” he said. “You ask whether they have got water to sell. You’re not asking about what clothes they wear. You’re not asking who they are married to. You are asking whether they have water to sell.”

The ABC interview overshadowed Scott Morrison’s earlier ­attempt to deflect criticism over the water buyback, with the Prime Minister saying the price was ­negotiated “at arm’s length from ministers” and that previous Labor governments had dealt with the company as well.

“It was done by the department, and working through the normal process, which include the assessments of the environmental and economic impacts and arriving at the ultimate price,” Mr Morrison said.

Bill Shorten yesterday left open the door to a royal commission into the contentious water buybacks.

When asked whether the full documentation about the buybacks should be released without redactions, Mr Joyce told the ABC: “How the hell would I know the answer to that? I’ve got no problems whatsoever. It’s because this is such a load of horse crap.”

He repeatedly said the company in question had been recommended by the Queensland state Labor government. “This was the deal that the Queensland Labor government wanted,” Mr Joyce said. “Why did the Queensland government recommend this to us? Are they morons? Were they asleep?”

Labor has pressured the Coalition over the deal and has pledged to tackle tax havens by introducing a publicly accessible register for ultimate ownership of companies and to bring transparency to offshore firms bidding for government tenders.

Coalition campaign spokesman Simon Birmingham earlier dismissed claims the government’s water purchases verged on “corruption”.

“We think a royal commission into allegations that are completely baseless would be a waste of time and money,” Senator Birmingham said.

He said the company’s original asking price had been more than $5000 a megalitre, but the agreed price was closer to $2700 a megalitre.

Twelve independent candidates have signed a statement jointly calling for Mr Morrison and government politicians to explain their personal roles in the water buyback.

“One of the overriding issues that has caused us all to stand in this Federal election is the need for integrity and good governance; something we feel has been lacking in recent years,” the statement said.

The Department of Agriculture has dismissed suggestions the water can’t be used away from the properties, arguing the purchase has significant environmental benefits.

However, Labor assistant treasury spokesman Andrew Leigh has pounced on the focus on tax havens, and pledged to set up a publicly accessible registry of the beneficial ownership of Australian companies and legal entities, which would include trusts.

Labor would also require government tenders to disclose the country where they’re legally domiciled, and companies gunning for government contracts worth more than $200,000 would be required to disclose where they are legally based for tax purposes.

“No firm headquartered in a tax haven would be able to get a significant government contract without revealing their true status,” Dr Leigh said.