Regional Nats pay for ‘needy’ SA, says Joyce

Former Nationals leader and deputy PM Barnaby Joyce has accused his government of focusing too much on South Australia.

Barnaby Joyce says his own government is focusing too much on South Australia and regional seats in NSW and Queensland have been neglected.

Scott Morrison’s hand-picked drought envoy, Barnaby Joyce, has accused his own government of focusing too much on South Australia, and neglecting regional­ NSW and Victoria.

Ahead of the federal election, the former deputy prime minister has warned the Prime Minister against funnelling funds into South Australia in the hope of holding seats.

Mr Joyce said the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was among the examples of favourable treatment in Coalition policy towards the state where the Nationals have no representation.

“South Australia has needed a stimulus, I know they have had economic hard times,’’ he said.

“And they have received a stimulus. There has to be recognition of the submarine project, which is worth billions of dollars; the frigates project, which was worth billions of dollars; the fact we have invested about $13 billion in the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and the predominant driver of that was more water for South Australia.

“There has been a massive investment­ on behalf of South Australia and it is something that should be taken into account, especiall­y when there are other areas — such as Deniliquin, Mildura­ and Shepparton — as to what are their requirements.”

Mr Joyce called last week for a wholesale review of the Murray­-Darling Basin Plan after the Nationals went backwards in the NSW election, with water a key issue in the party’s loss of the seats of Barwon and Murray. He said yesterday it showed the plan was costing the Nationals votes in former strongholds.

“We have to take into account the political reality that we lost the seat of Murray at a state election because it is not so much the farmers, it is the people in the towns that believe they have lost their economic base,” Mr Joyce said. “We are always told about the political reality of South Australia­. There is also a political reality in NSW and Victoria.”

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan was sealed with bipartisan support in 2012 in an effort to manage the water in the 2500km river that runs through SA, Victoria­, Queensland and NSW.