Stakeholder Consultative Committee
Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin (water entitlement purchase) - Water for the Future - fact sheet and statement
Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts, 2008
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- Stakeholder Consultative Committee fact sheet (PDF - 362 KB)
- Stakeholder Consultative Committee statement (PDF - 11 KB)
Fact sheet
Water for the Future is a $12.9 billion plan to secure the long-term water supply for all Australians. As part of this plan, $3.1 billion will be invested in Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin to purchase water entitlements from willing sellers.
On 26 February 2008, the Minister for Climate Change and Water, Senator Penny Wong, launched the first round of water entitlement purchasing as part of the Government's plan to restore the health of the Murray-Darling Basin.
A public tender process was undertaken, with the Australian Government allocating $50 million to purchase water in the 2007-08 financial year.
This tender process closed on 16 May 2008, and the Australian Government is currently in the process of finalising the purchase of approximately 35 gigalitres (billion litres) of water across the Murray-Darling Basin.
The Stakeholder Consultative Committee
In late May 2008, the Minister for Climate Change and Water announced the formation of a Stakeholder Consultative Committee to provide input to a review of the outcomes of the initial round of water purchases.
The Committee comprises 12 people from a broad cross-section of Murray-Darling Basin stakeholders
- Laurie Arthur, National Farmers Federation Water TaskForce
- Colin Thomson, Chair, NSW Irrigators Council; Director, Western Murray Irrigation
- Ian Johnson, Executive Officer, Queensland Irrigators Council
- Sharon Starick, South Australian Natural Resource Management Council; South Australian Farmers Federation
- Richard Anderson, Victorian Farmers Federation
- Dick Thompson, Chair, Murrumbidgee Irrigation Limited
- Mike Logan, Chair, Cotton Research and Development Corporation
- Dr Arlene Buchan, Australian Conservation Foundation Healthy Rivers
- Mary Annand MacIntyre, Brook Irrigators Association
- Ray Najar, General Manager, Murray Darling Association
- Prof. Richard Kingsford, University of New South Wales
- Prof. Quentin Grafton, Australian National University
Purpose of the Committee
The Committee is charged with providing stakeholder input the review of the Australian Government's water purchasing.
The review of the 2007-08 water purchasing is being conducted by the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts.
The review of the program will assess the economic, environmental and social impacts of the initial stage of the program, and will be used to refine arrangements for subsequent water entitlement purchasing activity.
Hyder Consulting has completed an independent assessment of the program. The Stakeholder Consultative Committee has provided input into the Hyder Review, this feedback has informed the next phase of the Australian Government's water purchasing.
As part of the review, workshops were conducted in eight regional centres across the Basin in July, to enable stakeholders to raise their concerns with the Department, the independent consultant and the Stakeholder Consultative Committee.
Feedback from the regional consultation workshops and the Stakeholder Consultative Committee has informed the next phase of water entitlement purchasing, which the Minister for Climate Change and Water announced on 8 September 2008.
More information
For more information about Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin, call 1800 218 478; email waterpurchasing@environment.gov.au; or visit www.environment.gov.au/waterpurchasing.
Stakeholder Consultative Committee statement on 2007-08 Restoring the Balance in the Murray-Darling Basin (water entitlement purchase)
The Stakeholder Consultative Committee has agreed that:
- The first round of the water purchase program that was conducted in 2007-08 has been well managed and efficiently administered by the Department.
- There are some issues on price disclosure and communication - the Department has indicated that these issues will be addressed in future rounds.
- The Committee is confident that the water entitlements that have been purchased in the first round of the program will be able to be effectively used for environmental outcomes.
- In looking forward to future rounds of the program the Committee considers that there is a need for improved communication of the program objectives, in particular the short, medium and long term environmental objectives and priorities.
- Ongoing monitoring of the socio-economic impact of the program will also need to be an integral part of the program as it progresses. This should include benchmark analysis to assess the impact of purchases on regional communities and economies.
- The water purchase program and infrastructure programs need to be carefully integrated and this relationship effectively communicated.
- The Committee noted the proposed development of the Basin environmental watering plan which will more fully inform the acquisition and use of environmental water.
- The Committee agreed that an important feature of the program is that it recognises the property rights of irrigators.
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