Murray-Darling Basin Plan now at risk

Two states and the ACT are jeopardising the Basin Plan, writes Perin Davey

IMAGINE you lived in a five-unit complex. The whole complex needs work done, but structurally, most of the work must occur in just two of the units.

The body corporate commits to fund the work as long as all unit owners agree with the process.

Things progress and most of the work is complete.

The final pieces of work — to be carried out in the two pivotal units — require further investigation and it is recommended to extend the deadline to ensure the work is structurally sound and achieves the right outcomes.

The other three unit owners refuse to grant the extension, meaning either; substandard work must be rushed, risking the entire building; or the work wouldn’t be completed by the unit holders, risking the entire building.

This is effectively what happened last week at the meeting of the Murray-Darling Basin Water Ministers’ Council.

Three of five jurisdictions refused to consider reviewing the deadlines for the delivery of one of the last pieces of the Basin Plan puzzle, Queensland, ACT and South Australia.

For Queensland and the ACT, the Basin Plan is effectively done within their borders and they bear no further risk.

The plan’s Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism is a mechanism to account for projects or rule changes that will mean more efficient use of environmental water.

A total of 36 projects were submitted, and either they are all complete by 2024 or the Basin Plan reverts to the original water recovery targets.

The latest report card shows that of the 36 proposals, 30 projects are complete or expected to meet deadline.

The final six, however, are unlikely to be delivered by the June 2024 deadline.

They are also the most complex and controversial with the potential for big environmental gains if done well, but pose a risk if rushed.

It would seem SA, Queensland and the ACT are not concerned about the outcomes as long as they can say they met an arbitrary deadline.

They would risk the entire building just at the time when we nearly had it fixed.

● Perin Davey is a Deniliquin NSW-based Nationals Senator and a former water policy adviser to the irrigation industry

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