Issues around the water sale were raised on the television show The Project, titled ‘Water Wars’. It raised concerns about the environmental benefit of the sale and the record cost to taxpayers.
‘‘The whole issue of water purchasing and trading, including the impact it is having on Australia’s ability to continue growing food and fibre, needs serious investigation,’’ Mr Brooks said.
‘‘However, more than anything it is the latest in a long line of concerns around the way we are distributing our precious water resources. Under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan we have clearly got it wrong — whether it is questionable water purchases, storing over-bank flows, ruining river banks, native fish kills, or providing ideal conditions to breed European carp, it is obvious our water managers have made a mess of the Basin Plan.
‘‘The only thing they haven’t been able to do is ‘fess up’. In the farming world when you make a mistake you must acknowledge it, learn from it and make sure you don’t do it again.
‘‘In the world of water management, it seems they make a mistake, refuse to admit it, then sit back and wait for the next mistake to rear its ugly head. Unfortunately, along the way they are ruining livelihoods, wrecking environments they are supposed to be protecting and threatening the safe, sustainable food supply the Australian farmers have delivered for generations.’’
Mr Brooks said the need to pause the plan is ‘‘bleedingly obvious’’.
‘‘In this latest revelation there are claims the Federal Government has spent $80 million on the purchase of fake water. All taxpayers should be outraged at the possibility their hard-earned money has been squandered.
‘‘What more evidence do we need that this disastrous Basin Plan needs to be paused, reviewed and revised?
‘‘We are not just talking about the $8 billion that has been spent so far on the plan; there is also billions of dollars in lost production and massive job losses in regional communities since water became a political football over a decade ago.’’
Using the alleged fake water purchase as an example, Mr Brooks said there is generally a lack of understanding around the connection between the Northern Basin, the Southern Basin and the ‘end of system’ in South Australia.
“If less water is flowing to the end of the system from the Northern Basin, for whatever reason, water storages in the Southern Basin make up the shortfall. As a consequence, we get the zero water allocation that has decimated New South Wales Murray Valley communities this year.
‘‘Then we get the environmental damage which we have seen as authorities try to push too much water down the river to compensate for the shortfall.
‘‘Our river system is collapsing through poor water management, water trading rules that need review and, possibly, suspect water deals.
‘‘Let’s have a pause, review and revise the Basin Plan to get it back on track.’’.
