Member for Barker Tony Pasin is warning that the reckless grandstanding by South Australia Minister Susan Close at this week’s National Water Ministers Meeting is threatening the delivery of the Murray Darling Basin Plan by providing a basis for up-stream States to walk away from the Plan.
“NSW and Victoria are looking for the exit sign and Susan Close seems to be showing them the way,” Mr Pasin said.
“We have spent decades developing and then delivering a plan that finally holds up stream State’s feet to the fire and makes them accountable. By her reckless actions Susan Close has put at risk decades of work and provided an opportunity for NSW and Victoria to crab walk away from their responsibilities.”
The Murray Darling Basin is home to 2.6 million people who rely on the river to generate economic activity providing local jobs and generating $24 billion of agricultural output each year.
“We know from previous experience that buy backs kill communities and that’s why the former Coalition Government vowed never to use buy back to recover environmental water.”
“Susan Close and Tanya Plibersek are putting a lot of emphasis on recovering the remaining 450GL at the expense of river communities.”
“Minister Close abandoning the socio-economic test is clear evidence that her intention is to recover the additional 450 gig at any cost. It’s a ‘Riverland communities to be dammed’ approach and I wont stand for it.”
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