A SEETHING NSW government says critics of a four-year water recovery target review are ignorant of science and hydrology and are sprouting rhetoric instead of considering rural communities.
Meanwhile organisers of a GetUp protest in Sydney CB urged ‘cowboy’ NSW regional water minister Niall Blair to stick to the Murray Darling Basin Plan, but chose not to elaborate on the specific flaws they could see in the Northern Basin Review.
Confirming he’s making preparations to walk away from the Basin Plan, Mr Blair said those talking down the independent 2016 Review were turning their back on 200 jobs and the health of various regional towns, despite having little detail to back up their skepticism.
“Opponents of the proposed reduction have ignored the economists, hydrologists and scientists who conducted the Northern Basin Review,” he said.
Yesterday NSW Labor and the Greens said onlookers should be cynical of the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s science, which recommended a 70GL reduction in water recovery from Southern Queensland and Northern NSW.
That proposed reduction was knocked on the head via a Labor-Green-NXT-Bernardi-Hinch Senate disallowance motion on Wednesday.
Basin Authority member Professor Brian Hart hit back in an opinion piece that called detractors’ logic “rubbery… simply untrue and lack an understanding of the hydrological modelling and ecological research involved in the review”.
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“The review process also involved extensive consultation with environmental, industry and community stakeholders. It also included consultation with Aboriginal community members.”
“Whether stakeholders agree with the final recommendation or not, it is incorrect to question the work and evidence used by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.”
Protesters shoot down amendment, shy on specifics
The NSW government’s handling of water this past six months is also a primary concern for environmental stakeholders – despite Minister Blair making moves to reform monitoring and compliance.
A GetUp protest in the Sydney CBD on Friday focused its ire on the reputation of the NSW government.
A crowd of 50 lined the footpath outside NSW parliament house in Sydney at lunchtime chanting “Save the Murray Darling”.
The crowd – some carrying signs modified from Biodiversity reform protests – demanded Niall Blar ‘pull his head in’ and remain in the Plan for the greater good.
The Minister was in the Hunter Valley visiting drought-affected farmers and did not hear the protest.
GetUp campaign co-ordinator Emily Mulligan said if NSW walked it would be a disaster.
“We’re talking about if people in Adelaide will have water when they turn on the tap,” she said.
“NSW is throwing a tantrum that could derail the best hope the Murray Darling system has of survival.”
She did not say whether she agreed with NSW Labor’s skepticism of the Basin Authority’s modelling that 200 jobs were at stake.
“I don’t think I even want to get into specifics around the plan,” she said.
“I think that we know 2000 farms depend on this system working well, and that we need proper enforcement of the rules.
“There’s plenty of science. The Wentworth Group has released modelling after modelling of how it could work and how to manage competing uses.”
“It’s not working perfectly, but it is our best hope.”
Ms Mulligan said not everyone on this side of the debate were environmentally driven.
“I think some of the strongest opponents of this plan are from Adelaide. Their concerns are: It’s not just Greenies, it’s not just wetlands, it’s whether the people of Adelaide will have somewhere to live in the future.”