“It is a clear betrayal and the end of the bipartisan approach to water reform; It will hurt production, increase costs, impact jobs and the prosperity of basin communities,” Mr Birrell said.
“The Coalition fought for a strong socio-economic neutrality test to protect communities and for a cap on water buybacks, but these were rejected.”
Under the deal the additional 450Gl of water for South Australia, which was always optional, become a core part of the plan with milestones and a timeline for recovery.
“The socio-economic impact test implemented by the Nationals in 2018 to ensure this water would only be recovered (if) it had a neutral or positive impact on communities has been torn up,” Mr Birrell said.
Deputy Opposition Leader and Federal Member for Farrer Sussan Ley addressed the House of Representatives following the vote.
“It’s a death sentence delivered by this government,” Ms Ley said.
“Faith has been broken with the communities that I represent, they all came here, asked nicely, explained what they do, they tried, they said to me and all my colleagues, let’s try and work with this government, let’s try to make them understand. It’s their hearts have been broken.
“This is a really bad, bad day.”
Speak Up chair Shelley Scoullar said it was “devastating” to learn Senators David Van and David Pocock agreed to support the Restoring Our Rivers Bill following a series of amendments.
“We understand that water policy is a very complex issue and it was probably unrealistic to expect they (Van and Pocock) would be able to fully understand how water management works,” Mrs Scoullar said.
“It is going to be a tough time for our communities, there’s no doubt about that.
“We will continue advocating for governments to prioritise every option at their disposal apart from buybacks. Unfortunately Tanya Plibersek has never lived in rural Australia and does not understand the importance of agriculture to the prosperity of towns, but we will not stop our advocacy to try and get her to show some compassion for those who will suffer at the hands of her politics.”
Mrs Scoullar pointed to government data which pinpointed 3200 jobs were lost across southern New South Wales and northern Victoria during the previous buybacks.
The National Farmers’ Federation said families, farmers, businesses and workers across Murray-Darling Basin communities were dealt a sledgehammer blow.
“The basin’s heart has been broken by a government that has ignored communities and hasn’t even bothered to visit those who will be impacted by this dreadful backroom deal,” National Farmers’ Federation president David Jochinke said.
“Former ALP Water Minister Tony Burke knew in 2012 that buybacks caused hardship for communities and so he explicitly ruled them out for the additional 450Gl of water acquisition.
“This government has completely backflipped and ignored their own position, while simultaneously throwing the plan’s bipartisan support in the bin.”
The Bill now needs to go back to the House of Representatives, where it’s expected to pass.
National Irrigators Council chair Jeremy Morton said the future of regional basin communities is being determined by governments that have not undertaken any analysis on the likely impacts to communities and have minimal understanding of the repercussions this new legislation will have, not only for regional basin towns, but Australia’s food production.
“There are still unanswered questions around the costs and impacts of this Water Amendment Bill, particularly on basin communities who have already done their fair share of the Basin Plan heavy lifting. 2100Gl of water has already been removed from these communities and they are still paying the price for that. Many areas will never recover and will now be targeted again,” he said.
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