NATIONAL water policy could be flipped on its head under the federal Labor government and requests for immediate water buybacks could be taken seriously for the first time in years.
The nation's Water Ministers will meet in Canberra on Wednesday for the first MinCo meeting 18 months to discuss the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
South Australia will call for the "immediate recommencement" of water recovery, including water buybacks, while NSW and Victoria are likely to request more time to deliver their water efficient projects.
The South Australian Labor government's push for water buybacks is not a new one, but for once the call is more than a platitude.
MinCo operates by consensus and for several years the eastern states have typically sided with the Coalition scuttle changes to the MDBP.
But with the election of the Albanese government, SA hopes the Commonwealth will be able to pressure, convince or compensate the Queensland Labor government to break the deadlock.
The federal government committed to delivering the plan on time and in full, which several parliamentary reports and inquiries have indicated will be a challenging task.
It remains to be seen if the Queensland Labor government is open to realigning its water policy with the federal Labor government.
South Australian Deputy Premier and Water Minister Susan Close said she was "putting the eastern states on notice" that her state would not settle for anything less than the plan being delivered on time and in full, "regardless of how its achieved".
"South Australia bore the brunt of a decade of National Party mismanagement of the River so I'm looking forward to working constructively with the new Albanese government to achieve better outcomes for our state," Dr Close said.
NSW Water Minister Kevin Anderson said he would formally request more time to complete his state's promised water efficient projects, while Victorian Water Minister Harriet Shing said her state was working towards the current deadline, but stressed "the need to be flexible on 2024".
Dr Close said SA would request the Commonwealth to finalise an "accelerated water recovery strategy as soon as possible".
SA will also withdraw its support for the "restrictive" socio-economic testing to recover the 450GL of environmental water. Currently, the criteria only allows water to be recovered if it has a positive or neutral impact on nearby communities.
A recent government report - which was kept secret by the Coalition - found it would be impossible to recover the 450GL under the socio-economic criteria. At most 390GL could be recovered before the 2024 deadline.
Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek said the Commonwealth would work constructively with the states to "chart a pathway to deliver the plan we agreed".
Jamieson Murphy
Newcastle Herald news director and business reporter. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
Newcastle Herald news director and business reporter. Interested in any and all yarns. Whisper g'day mate to me at jamieson.murphy@austcommunitymedia.com.au
