A state water inquiry two years in the making has prompted calls for the NSW State Government to assess their long-term plans for water across the state.
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Shooters Fishers and Farmers Party MP Robert Brown, who chaired the committee into parliamentary inquiry into water augmentation and supply, has urged the government to consider water supply in regional Australia.
Mr Brown says he feels there has been a “short sighted outlook” by the Berejiklian Government when it comes to the state’s water supply and security.
"The Commonwealth and the States may have to spend in excess of $100 billion if we are going to have enough water to secure our Nation's future for the next 50 years,” he said.
"The New South Wales Government needs a long- term water equation for the future, instead of operating in four year political cycles.”
He cited projections for national population growth as a reason the state needs “to do it's share to provide water availability, reliability and affordability to match our projected food and fibre needs”.
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Mr Brown also made reference to what he perceives to be the treatment of the Murray and Darling rivers as a single system.
"The Murray and the Darling are two separate systems, they need to be treated that way.”
Murrami Rice Farmer Debbie Buller welcomed the commission, but worried common themes appearing within the reports prompted no action.
“Common themes keep cropping up like lumping in the lower darling with the Murray River, the idea that splashing more water around is going to help the environment rather than looking at infrastructure,” she said.
“They’ve been coming up again and again. My worry is that this one is going to gather dust as well. There’s some really sensible recommendations in there, why aren’t things happening? When are they going to something about them?”
Member for Murray and Nationals MP Austin Evans said it was good to see the report move forward.
“It’s good to see that it’s tabled. It was a long inquiry, they got around to lots of places. I actually presented to that inquiry when I was working for Murrumbidgee Council,” he said.
“It’s good to see that it’s come forward through normal processes.”
He said the NSW government will respond to the recommendations within the report in the next few months.
While he didn’t make comment on recommendations within the inquiry, Mr Evans said he was in support of inquiries of it’s kind.
“I’m in support of anything that can help us do the water stuff better,” he said.
“Remembering back to the terms of reference, the terms were pretty broad. It did capture a lot of different things.”
