SA Royal Commission: State govt defends Basin Plan actions

Premier Steven Marshall released the 746-page document at a press conference this morning, in which commissioner Bret Walker made 111 findings and 44 recommendations.

The report criticises the state government, in particular Water Minister David Speirs, for agreeing to any changes in trying to recover 450 gigalitres of upwater as part of the plan.

These changes refer to the Ministerial Council meeting held in December, when an agreement on a new test, guaranteeing positive, or neutral, socio-economic outcomes for any further recovery of environmental water was made.

“The SA government’s agreement to changes to the socio-economic criteria for efficiency measures should not merely be described as ill-advised. It is nothing short of a capitulation to the interests of the current Commonwealth Government, and those of Vic and NSW,” the report said.

“SA’s agreement to these changes should be immediately reversed.”

At a press conference this morning, Mr Marshall said he “did not accept” any criticism from the commissioner about the government’s recent dealings trying to recover 450 gigalitres of upwater.

“In 2012, there was a negotiation for 3200GL of water to come back into the River Murray, but there was never a clear pathway as to how 450GL of upwater was ever going to come back into SA,” he said.

“NSW and Vic hadn’t been willing to negotiate and the Basin Plan was teetering on the brink.

“At the ministerial council in December, an agreement was reached.

“We got NSW and Vic to make concessions for the first time. We got a pathway to the 450GL of upwater and we got $70 million from the Commonwealth for projects in the Coorong.

“We came up with a criteria which would allow those projects to be assessed and that enabled us to get a pathway forward for the first time around that 450GL.

“As part of that agreement, we also got them to consider on-farm measures, something they had been particularly worried about doing in the past because of social and economic impacts to their regional communities.

“And we agreed that SA would consider the desalination plant being a potentially short-term project, which could be turned on to off-set River Murray take if compensated by the federal government.

“We now have a clear pathway.”

Mr Speirs was also “disappointed” about Mr Walker’s criticisms in the report, which he believes doesn’t consider “all the other things that have occurred”. 

RELATED READING: SA MDB Royal Commission report released to public

RELATED READING: Royal Commission call for Basin Plan re-write

But Mr Marshall said they were still taking the report “incredibly seriously”.

“But it is a complex, lengthy document and we will be reviewing it and making further commentary on the 44 recommendations later in the year,” he said.

“I will also write to the PM today to convene a meeting so that we can get the chief minister from the ACT, the premiers along the basin and the PM to consider the content of this report.

“It makes commentary on the original plan and its adequacy. There is also conflicting legal opinions on the legality of the plan.

“We want to make sure the information we relied on in SA was accurate.”

The report also recommended that the Environmentally Sustainable Level of Take should be redetermined in accordance with the Water Act 2007, rather than using a triple bottom line approach.

But Mr Marshall said the suggestion of a complete re-write of the MDB Plan was incomprehensible.

“We do not want to go back to the drawing board, as it could turn out worse for SA,” he said.

“This government is completely and utterly resolute that we must keep this plan in place and the full 3200GL must be delivered to SA.”

Attorney-General Vickie Chapman, who was also at the press conference, said the $5.5m report was not what the government was originally expected.

“South Australians have been waiting to hear whether the MDB Plan we signed was adequate and whether water has been stolen from us,” she said.

“But unfortunately water theft wasn’t the focus of the final report.

“There are chapters on the recent fish deaths, the commission did comprehensively cover that in this report.

“He (Mr Walker) has also identified a number of challenges that he sees as to whether the plan and the ESLTs that were set fully complied with the Water Act 2007.

“Our legal people will look at his recommendations and make sure there is compliance.”

In a statement, SA-BEST environment and water spokesperson Connie Bonaros described the report’s findings a “damning indictment” on federal and state governments.

“It is now abundantly clear for all the see why the Marshall government … did not want to co-operate with the commissioner from the get-go,” she said.

“On the back of this report, Premier Steven Marshall, and key federal Cabinet Ministers from SA – including Christopher Pyne, Simon Birmingham, as well as Senator Anne Ruston – must put immediate pressure on the Prime Minister and Federal Water and Agricultural Resources Minister David Littleproud to do whatever it takes to begin the process of getting the Basin healthy again.

“The livelihoods of all South Australians – and millions of Australians – are reliant of the long-term sustainability of the Murray-Darling Basin.

“The political rhetoric needs to stop – once and for all.”

Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young believes water was not going where it was needed while “myths are peddled to suit corporate interests”.

“Our river desperately needs more environmental flows if it is to survive. It’s time for the environment to be back at the centre of the Plan,” she said.

“The Royal Commission’s scathing assessment shows the science was ignored in the development and implementation of a plan that was supposed to protect our nation’s most important river system. 

“The plan must be overhauled, as the Commissioner recommends.”