Labor decides not to back Greens’ motion, instead coming to an agreement with Coalition to keep plan intact • Sign up to receive the top stories every morning

This article is more than 2 years old

This article is more than 2 years old

Proposed amendments to the Murray-Darling basin plan that will substitute water efficiency projects instead of buying back 605GL of water look set to survive a challenge in the Senate.

Labor has decided not to support a disallowance motion that the Greens planned to move on Tuesday after striking a deal with the government.

This means that the amendments to the southern basin water recovery targets will go forward as proposed by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.

Labor has also agreed to support the other major amendment to the plan – a cut of 70GL to the water recovery target in the northern basin if the government introduces it again, as expected.



Six weeks ago it had voted with the Greens and independents in the Senate to scuttle that amendment, arguing that in that catchment there was evidence of maladministration and unresolved questions of water theft.

The disallowance had sparked a major revolt by New South Wales and Victoria who threatened to abandon the Murray-Darling basin plan entirely.

Labor’s water spokesman, Tony Burke, said the deal he reached with the government put the plan back on track.

Instead of delivering more water for the Murray, Labor has teamed up with the Turnbull government. Greens spokesman

“Legitimate questions have been posed concerning the content of the northern basin review and the SDL adjustment mechanism,” Burke said. “The best way to deal with these concerns is through improved transparency, new auditing and compliance requirements to ensure a healthy working basin.

“Labor has also been determined to make sure that decisions about the volumes required to restore the system to health are determined by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority and do not instead become subjected to the daily amendment of the political process.”

Burke said the government has now provided measures that gave Labor sufficient confidence that the basin plan is back on track.

These include a move to begin recovering the additional 450GL of environmental water through an expression of interest process. This has been a high priority for the South Australian government.

It also includes an assurance that the 605GL project will be delivered by linking the payments for supply measures with efficiency measures for environmental water (450GL of water for the environment).

“Critically this agreement means that the 450GL which was put into doubt by former water minister Barnaby Joyce is now back on the table and the process to acquire that water will now commence,” Burke said.



The original target of 3,200GL – the amount scientists and the CSIRO said was a minimum to ensure the health of the river system – was pruned to 2,750GL in the final stages of the negotiations with the states with a pledge to look at restoring the 450GL later on.

David Littleproud, the federal minister for agriculture and water, said the agreement would give certainty to people living in the Murray-Darling basin.

“It gives them the certainty of their livelihoods, it gives them the opportunity to get on with their lives without government being in it,” Littleproud said.

Hon. David Littleproud MP (@D_LittleproudMP) The Murray Darling Basin Plan will be delivered after we struck a deal with Labor. This will give 2-million Australians living in the Basin certainty which they haven't had for 6 years, giving them confidence to invest in their communities and businesses. https://t.co/LIeMjHm1Ej pic.twitter.com/mkoa4LwKu2

“Today, Tony Burke and the Australian Labor party have taken my hand and I thank them for that. This shows to every Australian out there, that this place here, we can get outcomes.”

Water Minister David Littleproud said the compliance measures would target irrigators doing the wrong thing through measures like improved metering.



“If you’re doing the right thing, there’s nothing to fear,” Mr Littleproud told reporters in Canberra on Monday.



“But if you aren’t, you’re going to get caught and we’re going to make you swing.”

The Greens, who had planned to move the disallowance motion on Tuesday against the changes, have accused Labor of selling out and putting “the entire health of the Murray-Darling basin at risk”.

“Instead of delivering more water for the Murray, Labor has teamed up with the Turnbull government to reduce the amount of water returned to the environment,” a Greens spokesman said.

They say the changes will permanently reduce the amount of water put aside for the environment by 605 GL. But the attempt to block those changes is now doomed.

The Greens have also signalled a second measure – a private members’ bill to try and lock in an additional 450GL of water for environmental flows by 2024. It is unclear whether Labor will support this bill.

The vote has again highlighted the faultlines over support for the basin plan.

Irrigators and farm groups such as the National Farmers Federation are supporting the so called sustainable diversion limit adjustment projects that will affect the southern basin, while environmental groups and some scientists are vehemently opposed, warning they are unproven.

The 605GL will instead be recovered through projects known as sustainable diversion limit adjustment projects. They are designed to deliver environmental outcomes equivalent to buying 605GL of water from farmers.

They include projects such as reducing the size of the Menindee lakes to reduce evaporation, and managing water in the Murray river differently by altering the way the Hume dam is managed.

The Murray-Darling Basin Authority is strongly in favour of the projects and has warned that this vote could determine the future of the basin plan itself. “Parliament is simply being asked to continue with what it agreed back in 2012 –proper implementation of the basin plan as it was intended, in full and on time,” the MDBA said on Sunday.



“The basin plan has always included a mechanism for the development and implementation of a range of projects to ensure that water recovered for the environment is used as effectively and efficiently as possible, to deliver the best possible environmental outcomes.

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“This is because it was always recognised that recovering water alone would not be sufficient to achieve optimum environmental benefits – that water would need to be paired with works and water management reforms so it could be used when, where and how the environment needs it.”

However, critics say the problem is there is no guarantee that the 36 projects will deliver the outcomes promised by the states. Some are also far more expensive than buying water rights on the open market.



High-profile scientists, including the Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists, and environmental groups say many of the projects are not sufficiently proven and amount a reduction in environmental water without the certainty of outcomes for the environment.

Last week the commissioner chairing the South Australian royal commission, Bret Walker SC, raised serious doubts about the legal validity of the proposed amendments.



