Victorian Water Minister Harriet Shing ‘assessing all options’ to block federal water buyouts

Victorian Water Minister Harriet Shing is searching for a way to block buybacks in Goulburn and Murray irrigation communities.

Victorian Water Minister Harriet Shing’s department bureaucrats and lawyers are struggling to find a means of blocking federal buyouts of irrigation communities’ water.

Victorian Water Minister Harriet Shing is scrambling to find a means of blocking the federal government stripping Goulburn and Murray irrigation communities of water to boost environmental flows.

The move follows the passing of the Restoring our Rivers Bill through federal parliament last week, which removes legislative barriers in the federal Water Act to the Albanese government buying up to 700 gigalitres of water out of irrigation communities.

Other basin states cut a deal in August to allow the Albanese government into their water markets, unopposed, in return for investments in water infrastructure and community compensation payments.

But Ms Shing has repeatedly stated Victoria had “a longstanding opposition to buybacks” and she would be assessing “all of the options available to us to prevent buybacks and the impacts they will have in Victorian communities”.

However The Weekly Times is aware Ms Shing’s department bureaucrats and lawyers are struggling to find any viable options.

The Federal Water Act prohibits barriers to trade, unless it has negative environmental impacts.

Industry sources say Ms Shing could use her powers under the Victorian Water Act to reject registration of water traded to the Commonwealth or mount a legal challenge, based on the state’s constitutional control over water.

Victorian Nationals leader Peter Walsh said it was time Ms Shing “explained to the irrigation community as to how she is going to ensure Victoria is protected against the Commonwealth buying huge volumes of water”.

Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said Victoria’s refusal to join other basin states and ACT to deliver on the plan in full “just doesn’t make sense”.

“What’s on offer to the Victorian government is hundreds of millions of dollars of support and if they don’t sign up, we’re likely to see more water recovery through voluntary water purchase, not less in Victoria,” Ms Plibersek said.

Up until early this year Victoria had been progressing the delivery of 72.5GL in environmental efficiency projects towards the basin plan, under a $320 million federal funding agreement, which had to be delivered by June 30, 2024.

The projects were critical to boosting the efficiency of watering Murray River flood plains and wetlands, which in turn would cut the volume of environmental water needed under the Murray Darling Basin Plan by 605GL – under what is know as the Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism.

But in April Ms Shing halted work on the four biggest Victorian Murray projects – Guttrum Benwell, Gunbower, Lindsay and Walpolla Islands – due to what she called “funding uncertainty and time constraints the Commonwealth has imposed on these projects”, which had to be completed by June 2024.

Failing to deliver the projects, which were expected to yield 58GL in environmental water efficiency savings, risked the federal government wading into Victoria’s Sunraysia, Robinvale or Torrumbarry irrigation communities to buy up the shortfall.