SOUTH Australian Labor Water Minister Ian Hunter has sunk to a new low of political petulance and hyperbole with his bile-fuelled verbal spray, in the name of callous water politics, at a virtually defenceless but otherwise empowered country woman.
Riding a wave of political hysteria and opportunism after the controversial ABC Four Corners program “Pumped” on Monday night, Mr Hunter took a low-grade swipe at Murray Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) board hopeful Perin Davey in a media statement on Tuesday.
Remember, this is also the man who infamously unleashed a Donald Trump-like rant at another woman - and federal Agriculture and Water Minister Barnaby Joyce - during a heated meeting of the Murray Darling Basin ministerial council, at an Adelaide restaurant late last year.
He reportedly swore at Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville and Mr Joyce - with only the severity of his language questioned - then stormed out of the terse meeting with his staff, to go and cool down over ice-creams.
And just like the allegations of tampering with water metres and “water theft”, by farmers in the Barwon-Darling portion of the Basin, raised by the ABC this week, one must now question how well Mr Hunter’s own mouth is officially regulated.
Adding to his foul-mouthed froth at the Adelaide restaurant, Mr Hunter’s media statement poured scorn on Ms Davey, accusing her of being a “political hack”.
Here’s how it went.
“On the sidelines, Barnaby Joyce is attempting to weaken the Murray Darling Basin Authority – the independent expert authority charged with delivering the Basin Plan – by trying to appoint a National Party hack who is committed to undermining that exact plan,” it said.
“Mr Joyce recently advised water ministers of his choice for a new appointee to the MDBA board.
“Perin Davey was not only a staffer with former Nationals Senator Ron Boswell, but she was a member of the National Irrigators Council – which has actually asked Barnaby Joyce not to deliver the full plan, notably the 450GLs of water (additional ‘up-water’ for SA) agreed to by all ministers and the Prime Minister.
“Ms Davey is a clearly biased choice for what is legislated as an independent and expert authority.
“Of further concern, Mr Joyce’s chosen appointee may have been one of the unnamed people on the phone call aired by Four Corners, who were recorded discussing NSW abandoning the Basin Plan.
“Is this a National Party takeover of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan?
“I have already asked Mr Joyce to reconsider his appointment of Ms Davey and I strongly urge him now to remove her from consideration.”
Of the back of this statement, media reports have subsequently mischaracterised Ms Davey as an “irrigation lobbyist” who is “against” the Basin Plan’s implementation.
But such reports haven’t mentioned that she worked for Mr Boswell nearly two decades ago, for only about eight months, filling a maternity leave contract as a media adviser, and has never held a paid role for the party since, or any other one.
But the biggest problem with Mr Hunter’s latest attack on someone he doesn’t agree with, is that the woman at the centre of the political cheap shot can’t come out and public defend herself vigorously and equally, in the media.
Ms Davey said she couldn’t respond to Mr Hunter’s comments and subsequent media reporting of it, that’s struggled to deliver balance, because of a virtual gag due to the ongoing board appointment process that’s not yet finalised.
But she said she’d never been on public record saying she was actually against or opposed to the Basin Plan’s roll-out; including when testifying at several Senate public hearings on the topic for organisations she’s worked for, in presenting their views, in recent times.
Hunter on his own
It must be noted also that Mr Hunter is the only member in the high level process that’s so far raised any formal objection to Ms Davey’s appointment to the MDBA board, in the official process.
Also, the board can’t change the Basin Plan, unless Mr Hunter knows something nobody else does about Ms Davey’s hidden political, super-powers.
Or has he again dived head first into the shallow end of a lake, mouth wide open, without looking out for any warnings of potential self-harm?
But what’s also deeply worrying about Mr Hunter’s attack on Ms Davey is his glaring omission and blatant failure to acknowledge her proven capacity to be a strong and competent contributing member of the MDBA board.
And this change of board composition comes at a critical time when the Basin Plan is transforming from design - and therefore requiring greater focus on theoretical scientific and legislative technical capacities - to the actual pragmatic implementation process that hinges on lived experience of impacts and local knowledge.
It also a time when organisations throughout the nation are being slammed heavily - especially major political outfits - for their failure to deliver an acceptable number of female leadership appointments.
Programs like the annual Rural Women’s Awards laud the likes to Perin Davey and her leadership capacity and achievements, in breaking new ground while championing issues they believe in strongly, for their communities.
But sadly, that’s not Mr Hunter’s way and his superficial comments are also unhelpful to that real ongoing cause.
His only aim it seems is stirring-up muddy political waters, around the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
The incident in Adelaide late last year at the water ministers’ gathering drew strong criticism and calls for SA Premier Jay Weatherill to take action against the Labor minister and demanded an apology for his un-statesman like behaviour.
At the time Mr Joyce said he was “disappointed when people scream at me” and also called on Mr Hunter to apologise.
Mr Hunter’s media release this week may not produce any form of remorse or apology.
But his words have been well noted by those watching this space closely who possess greater ballast and understand complex water issues, beyond the blind, narrow political self-interests of South Australia.
Davey’s record speaks for itself
Sources close to the issue say Ms Davey in fact possesses a sound track record of building constructive arrangements with all sides of politics to benefit her community.
That includes with former Water Minister Tony Burke who oversaw the Basin Plan being signed into law in 2012 and stood with Mr Hunter at a post-Four Corners media conference this week in Adelaide.
Ms Davey’s LinkedIn profile says she’s currently managing director of PD Strategy - a Communications and Relations organisation formed this year - and before that was executive manager of corporate affairs and stakeholder engagement at Murray Irrigation for seven years.
Contacted by Fairfax Agricultural Media to respond to Mr Hunter’s attack, National Irrigators Council CEO and former NSW Labor politician Steve Whan said the MDBA board needed to include all stakeholder interests, including representing those of irrigators, and did not believe Ms Davey had ever been “against” the Basin Plan.
Mr Whan said her work and attitude towards the complex water reform process had always been constructive and Mr Hunter’s implication, that she was being appointed to the MDBA board as a National’s political plant, to “sabotage” the Basin Plan, was “just rubbish”.
In a letter supporting Ms Davey's appointment, Mr Joyce said Ms Davey had “a well-grounded understanding” of the Basin Plan and was “very experienced in stakeholder engagement regarding water policy issues in Australia”.
In March last year, when appointing her to his Agricultural Industry Advisory Council, the Deputy Prime Minister said she would bring “valuable expertise in water management issues” to the Council and “make an important contribution” to its work.
“Ms Davey has extensive experience in water management, water markets and the irrigation industry, with more than five years with Murray Irrigation Limited,” he said.
“Ms Davey has long contributed to public debate on water policy issues in Australia, including during the development of the Basin Plan and its implementation.
“Water is an essential input to agriculture and the lifeblood of our rural and regional communities so it makes sense that this important issue has greater representation through the council.”
At the time, Farrer Liberal MP Sussan Ley said Ms Davey’s inclusion on the Council would also showcase western NSW.
“I have worked with Ms Davey and am confident she will make an invaluable contribution to the council’s engagement on current and longer-term issues affecting Australian agriculture,” she said.
NSW Irrigators’ Council CEO Mark McKenzie told media yesterday Ms Davey would be “perfectly suited” to the MDBA board role.
A spokesperson for Mr Joyce said the minister wrote to all Basin water ministers in June seeking their views on his proposed appointments to the MDBA board and “no final decisions have been made”.
Ultimately the two new board members will be appointed by the Governor-General – not Mr Joyce – as per the Water Act, with expertise and experience in irrigated agriculture one of the set criteria.
If anyone still believes Mr Hunter’s statements this week about Ms Davey are water-tight, they could also consider the current composition of the six-member MDBA board.
The current Chair - one-time federal Liberal MP Neil Andrew - is from SA and so is Dianne Davidson - an agricultural scientist and horticulturalist who has worked throughout the Basin for 35 years and is a fourth generation farmer from the Lower Lakes region.
Ms Davidson is also a former member of the South Australian Premier's Climate Change Council.
Other current board members are; Victorian based Professor Barry Hart who is a director of environmental consulting company Water Science; George Warne who is experienced in rural water management and farm production in NSW but also Victoria; and Susan Madden who has been most recently CEO of NSW regional farming group Macquarie River Food & Fibre, for seven years.
Given the board also includes CEO Phil Glyde, SA has two of the other five board members or 40 per cent of its total composition.
If anyone should have been crying out over perceptions of bias on the MDBA board, perhaps Queensland and the ACT - which have no direct representation - could shoot a memo to Mr Hunter before he shoots off his mouth again, like a busted water pump.
Mr Hart and Ms Davidson are due to be replaced by the two new MDBA board appointments.
With water engineer Graeme Turner understood to be the other nominee, Ms Davey’s appointment would also then maintain the board’s current gender balance,
In addition, Ms Davey also spoke on a panel at the NSWFarmers’ Association’s annual conference last week in Sydney on the topic, “What’s next for the Murray Darling Basin”.
Other panel members included NSW Department of Primary Industries director general Scott Hansen, Mr Glyde, Mr Whan, Tony Quigley of Quigley farms and Gavin Hanlon who is the NSW bureaucrat in the focus of some of the allegations raised by Four Corners this week.
Given the topic in focus, reports of Ms Davey using the high profile public speaking opportunity to denounce or decry the Basin Plan and its future, have so far failed to surface – basically because they don’t exist.