Former MP set for MDBA role

Late last year Mr Knowles advised the government he wouldn’t seek an extension to his four-year term as MDBA chair when his tenure expired on January 31.

Government and industry sources say Mr Andrew’s appointment was due to be made public near the end of the year, but a formal announcement was delayed by Prime Minister Tony Abbott’s ministry reshuffle in December.

Changes to the Coalition cabinet saw NSW Liberal MP Bob Baldwin appointed the new Parliamentary Secretary to the Environment Minister, replacing South Australian Liberal Senator Simon Birmingham. This position holds responsibility for water in the Coalition’s streamlined ministry after the new government abolished water as a portfolio post-election in September 2013.

Senator Birmingham is believed to have recommended Mr Andrew’s appointment as the new MDBA chair before the changeover.

Mr Andrew declined to comment to Fairfax Agricultural Media, saying he wasn’t in a position to confirm or deny any final decision on his appointment, and had been overseas on holiday for the past few weeks.

It’s understood several key water policy stakeholders are aware of Mr Andrew’s appointment but are also remaining tight-lipped ahead of a formal announcement. Mr Baldwin also declined an interview request this week.

Mr Andrew represented the SA seat of Wakefield in federal parliament from March 1983 to October 2004 and is 70 years old. He was a horticulturalist before entering federal politics and appointed Speaker of the House of Representatives after the October 1998 election.

Mr Andrew currently has an interest as a citrus grower in the SA Riverland region, according to his LinkedIn profile, and also remains engaged in high-level agricultural work while maintaining links to key government and industry stakeholders.

In December 2013, Mr Andrew released a report detailing the benefits of Australia’s work in international agricultural aid programs, written by a taskforce he chaired for the Crawford Fund.

Mr Knowles became MDBA chair in early 2011, replacing Mike Taylor, when water reform controversy dominated national headlines over the flawed formation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

Mr Taylor resigned shortly after the MDBA released its guide to a draft Basin Plan in October 2010, which proposed 3000 to 4000 gigalitres in sustainable diversion limits (SDLs). That initial proposal suffered enormous backlash at community consultation meetings throughout the Basin amid fears irrigation water for farm production would be stripped to meet expanding environmental demands.

However, former NSW Labor Minister Mr Knowles was praised for overseeing implementation of a final Basin Plan that passed parliament with bipartisan support under the previous Labor federal government, and gained general stakeholder approval for a more balanced and realistic SDL target of 2750GL in late 2012.

Last November Mr Knowles indicated he wanted to spend time working with his replacement, prior to handing over the reins at the end of this month. However, Mr Knowles said then he didn’t know who would replace him, stressing it was a decision for the Environment Minister to make, “in good time”.

Mr Knowles said he would continue working on his personal commercial and charitable interests after his MDBA stint concluded and would “happily keep an eye on the world of water”.

“I thank everyone for the opportunity and privilege to serve in a job for four years that I’ve enjoyed every minute of,” he said.

Mr Knowles said he would also leave behind a landscape for the MDBA and the Basin Plan that’s “fundamentally better than the landscape I inherited”.

“I think in the world of water, like many other worlds, there’s nothing wrong with leaving with people wanting a bit more, which is probably the right time to go,” he said.

“But I’m very satisfied that the next time we go into a big drought or severe conditions things will be more resilient and that resilience will last longer.

“Can we prevent droughts and floods and all the challenges that nature throws at us? No, of course we can’t.

“But the insurance policies we take out, like the Basin Plan, will stand us in good stead, I would think, for generations to come and I’m very comfortable in that,” Mr Knowles said.