MEDIA RELEASE

Compassion for the Country

The Rev Hon Fred Nile MLC has called the Government to show compassion for country NSW as they continue to battle the recent drought and deal with the dramatic changes to the Government’s water licence allocations.

Rev Nile raised the issue in Parliament yesterday;

Reverend the Hon. Fred Nile: I ask the Minister for Primary Industries a question without notice. Is it a fact that water licence allocations have been reduced from 67 per cent for certain farmers in the Bourke western region, even though water is essential liquid gold for these farmers? Is it a fact that after an adjustment of water cuts from 67 per cent to 50 per cent, certain farmers face a financial crisis as the banks foreclose on their loans and force a fire sale of their properties because they are no longer viable? Will the Minister urgently suspend the cuts to their water allocations and review the economic and social impact of these draconian water cuts?

The Hon. Ian Macdonald (NSW Government): I thank the honourable member for his question. The background to this issue is the decision taken by the Murray-Darling Basin Commission [MDBC] some time ago in conjunction with the Commonwealth and the States to impose a cap based on 1993-94 water usage across our river systems.

The Hon. Rick Colless (Government Opposition): Subject to further research.

The Hon. Ian Macdonald: I will get to that in a second. After considerable consultation with stakeholders in the region, I recently announced that although the Government provisionally accepted the cap of 173 gigalitres a year it would conduct a research project using more modern metering equipment to calibrate the exact historical water usage in the Barwon-Darling system. That calibration will take a couple of years. Honourable members must remember the other underlying problem that the State is facing—that is, we are experiencing a one-in-100-year drought and there is very little water.

The Hon. Duncan Gay: You have finally discovered the drought!

The Hon. Ian Macdonald: I will deal with that in a second. Back of Bourke Fruits ceased operation earlier this year. At the time it put an argument similar to that put by the honourable member about the general impact in the area. In fact, when one looks at the history of water use by Back of Bourke Fruits during the drought one finds that the Department of Natural Resources made several allocations to endeavour to help the company to survive. The extent of the drought in that region has placed financial pressures on that company.

The Government has an agreement with the stakeholders that it will conduct the research project to calibrate their equipment and establish an accurate history of use, and it will then make a final decision. I make it very clear that the cap issue could create potential for conflict with other agencies. Each time I have gone to the MDBC as the lead Minister for New South Wales, all other Ministers of the States and the Commonwealth have raised the cap issue and asked what we are doing. They believe we have a duty to impose the cap at 173 gigalitres for that area. It is clear, regardless of whether it is the Commonwealth Government or the State governments, that they believe there should be a cap. This Government believes that following the calibration of the old equipment, and using more modern and accurate equipment, we will be able to set a cap that reflects the amount of water being used in the area.

The Hon. Rick Colless: What are you going to do for the class-A users?

The Hon. Ian Macdonald: The stakeholders put the view that it would be higher. This research will give us an accurate calibration of the figures and we will be able to work on it. The cap is being driven at a national level as part of the overall determination to get the river back into balance.