SA Water Minister Ian Hunter is pushing for the federal government to step in to ensure “public confidence in an open, transparent and full investigation” into the water mismanagement allegations in NSW.
His comments come after NSW Water Minister Niall Blair announced an independent review into issues raised by Monday night’s Four Corners program.
Mr Blair said the review would cover all allegations raised that involve the responsibilities of DPI Water and any of its employees.
Mr Blair appointed Ken Matthews AO to head the independent investigation.
“All staff in the NSW Department of Industry will be instructed to provide Mr Matthews with unrestricted access to all records and to participate in any interviews at his request,” Mr Blair said.
Mr Matthews will provide an interim report by August 31, which will include a date for his final report based on his interim assessment.
The final report will be provided by November 30.
“The interim and final reports will be made public, but any material that may be prejudicial to subsequent legal processes may need to be withheld until such time that they can be released,” Mr Blair said.
However, Mr Hunter said as the allegations involved serious undermining of the COAG-endorsed Murray-Darling Basin Plan, the SA government believes nothing less than a judicial review into the allegations is required.
“Unfortunately, Mr Matthews’ investigation would not have the authority to compel witnesses to give evidence or produce documents that would be required to get to the bottom of who may be responsible for the billions of litres of water alleged to have been taken from the Basin,” he said.
“The federal government needs to step in to ensure public confidence in an open, transparent and full investigation into what has been occurring in NSW.
“A judicial review needs to be instigated with the power to compel witnesses to give evidence, compel individuals or corporations to provide documents and provide recommendations to establish national compliance and enforcement arrangements.”
Mr Hunter said the terms of reference for NSW’s investigation into alleged water theft and maladministration were too narrow.
“Mr Blair has asked the investigator to inquire into allegations of water theft occurring over a four-day period in 2015 – when in fact when there are claims of systemic and long-term gaming of the water rules and compliance in NSW, predating that four-day period,” he said.
“Was this deliberately drafted to not get unwanted answers to the important questions?
“The terms of reference are absolutely inadequate. This inquiry won’t do it.
“To ensure transparency and openness, COAG must commission a full judicial inquiry into allegations of more than a billion litres of water stolen from the Murray-Darling River system and allegations of public service corruption that go all the way to the highest levels of the NSW public service.”