THE NSW Nationals have confirmed their support for a petition calling for a royal commission into water management and a national water register despite one of its own trying to block the document being tabled in parliament.
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers party Member for Murray Helen Dalton said an undisclosed National Party MP on Thursday formally objected to her introducing, speaking and voting on the 11,000-strong petition on the grounds of conflict of interest.
Mrs Dalton said she was the only member to have declared her water interests, and the attempt to block debate aimed to protect politicians and donors who owned water but had not declared it.
She told Sunraysia Daily those trying to block the petition and her involvement in the debate were trying to hold up democracy.
“It’s a bit rich asking me not to participate or vote on the petition when I’ve disclosed my interests,” she said.
Mrs Dalton said that as part of the debate she also wanted to question Water Minister Melinda Pavey about floodplain harvesting, with whom she had consulted and why she blamed the bureaucrats for her “poor decision”.
However, late on Thursday Ms Pavey and The Nationals’ NSW leader and Deputy Premier John Barilaro said the petition signed by concerned irrigators represented the undeniable need for greater transparency across the Murray-Darling Basin.
“I have made it abundantly clear that when it comes to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan our basin communities need to come first – the plan needs to work for us, not the other way around,” Mr Barilaro said.
“Today I have met with some of these irrigators, who are at breaking point, and I confirmed that the NSW Nationals support the petition, to which they are signatories, and calls for a royal commission and national water register.”
Mrs Pavey said enough was enough and NSW had no more water to give.
“NSW has done a lot of the heavy lifting,” she said.
“With the support of local communities, we will work towards delivering projects which enable good environmental, social and economic outcomes to be achieved.”
