Some people recently have asked us for an update
on what we're doing in the Murray-Darling Basin.
It's still a very very important issue.
Just because some rains have come
does not mean it's over yet.
There's a long way to go. So I'll just first of all,
remind people of what we've done.
Back in 2017 in February, I listened to people
in the Ballon Shire Council, in their chambers in St. George
and they told us about the devastation
due to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority
and the plan in Southern Queensland around the border
and Northern New South Wales.
We listened to those people and we saw that they were right.
Then we went as a result of that.
Pauline and I went down the whole Murray River,
right down to the barrages and the river mouth
and we learned quite a bit from irrigators
and farmers in northern Victoria,
Southern New South Wales and South Australia.
Then I got knocked out of the Senate
and we were about to continue doing a lot more.
When I came back in, the first thing we did,
was start to understand the Murray-Darling Basin again.
So, we first of all did an overflight.
We took off from Albury went right down the Murray River,
down around the lower lakes, the Coorong
and then up to Mildura, then up the entire Darling
and then flew to the north of the basin above Charleville
and then came back to Goondiwindi
and then over the Clarence River catchment area,
and then down the centre of the basin
and actually back to Mungundi
and then down the centre and then to Albury.
We got a good overview of the whole lot.
Wasn't much water anyway, because it was so dry.
Then we went on the ground
and we went to Southern Queensland,
Northern New South Wales listening to people;
irrigators, communities, businesses.
We then went down, flew down to Adelaide
and went down the lower lakes, the Coorong,
then back up through the irrigated areas
and non irrigated areas of South Australia,
then along the Murray listening to people
in southern New South Wales, Northern Victoria.
And then we went along the Murrumbidgee.
And we went down the Murrumbidgee
and partly under the Murray again,
then up the Darling and ended up at Broken Hill.
We've got a little bit more travelling to do,
a little bit more listening with people on the ground
in Central and New South Wales.
And we've also got a few issues that we want resolved.
But most importantly, we want to listen now to some experts.
These are not technical experts as such,
not because they've got,
they're not experts because
they've got initials after their name
or they've got a title.
These are experts, like former people
in the Murray-Darling Basin Commission.
Highly regarded.
People who've done a lot of research,
a lot of experience in the area.
We want to listen to them, and then we pull it all together.
But just now I just want to bring you up to date
with a few things.
First of all, the need for trust.
There's very little trust.
Why? Because there's so little data,
there's so little openness, there's so little listening
from the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
And as a result,
people are blaming each other between the regions.
The flood harvesters in Northern New South Wales
and Southern Queensland are blaming South Australia.
South Australians are blaming everyone.
Southerners in New South Wales and Victoria
are blaming the Northerners and South Australia.
And we've been told that we will get a water registry.
Well, the federal government has had eight years to do that
and still hasn't got a water registry.
So what we're doing is,
we're calling on the federal government
to put in place a water registry in 12 months
over the next 12 months.
You should should be able to do that in a year.
The data is largely there.
But it needs to be part
of a larger watering reporting system
comprising the whole basin
so we know where the water is coming in,
we know where the water is being stored
and we know where it's flowing out.
That's essential.
So that people have an understanding,
a transparent understanding of the water flows.
The second thing.
We want irrigation water
to be treated somewhat as environmental water.
The losses in irrigation water flow into the environment.
Some of the irrigation water itself
flows into the environment.
So what we're calling for,
is carriage losses in irrigation water
to be treated as environmental water
because it ends up in the environment.
Third thing as part of that by the way,
we want farmers to be recognised
that they are protecting the environment.
Their experience, their own livelihoods
and the future value of their land
depends upon them taking care of it.
These people are the guardians of the land.
Instead of being seen, treated as villains,
they need to be treated as guardians of the land.
The fourth thing we want is integrity.
We want to restore integrity to the Basin.
There is corruption.
We know that!
Some of the irrigation authorities have a lot at stake
and some of the people are telling us around the Basin
that some irrigation authorities are corrupt.
And with the amount of money involved,
it's easy to see how that could happen.
And we know that some people
have become very very wealthy as a result.
So what we're calling for
is a Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission.
Now what we've got to do, I just told you,
we've still got a little bit more to do.
And then what we'll do is
we'll put a plan out to the whole community.
We've already released
based upon our early understandings at the water convoy.
Last year we released our basic plan.
It was just a discussion paper,
to get people's feedback.
That will become the basis of a policy.
It is not our policy yet,
but we will, we've got a little bit more work to do
and then we will restore water to the farmers
through a policy that we'll be releasing to everyone.
The plan ultimately is to restore water to the farmers
and have a solid sustainable Murray-Darling Basin Plan.