FARMERS have called for independent scrutiny to be upheld during a new government inquiry that will examine the quality of reforms in the nation’s water resources sector.
The National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) welcomed the announcement yesterday by Treasurer Scott Morrison of the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into ongoing water reforms and its terms of reference.
Mr Morrison said the inquiry would fulfil a statutory requirement for the first of the Commission’s triennial assessments of progress towards achieving the objectives and outcomes of the National Water Initiative (NWI) required by the Water Act 2007.
The inquiry is due to hand its report to the federal government by December 31 this year and the process will include gathering public and stakeholder feedback, which the NFF has backed.
The NFF said the Commission’s inquiry would assess the progress by the Commonwealth, State and Territory governments in achieving the objectives and outcomes of the NWI that was struck in 2004.
NFF Vice President and Water Taskforce Chair Les Gordon said it was an opportunity to take stock of what had been achieved on the national water reform agenda since 2004 and what more could be done.
“The terms of reference released yesterday provide the chance to put an independent lens over the good and the bad results of water reform and to identify where more work is needed,” he said.
“Water is our farmers’ most precious resource – its careful management is vital to the continued sustainability and prosperity of our agriculture sector.”
Mr Gordon said the NWI had been the “enduring” policy framework for water reform in Australia and the NFF had always advocated for an independent role - without an agenda and without vested interests - to oversee the reform process.
He said the NFF valued the National Water Commission’s (NWC) work in fulfilling this role from 2004 until 2014.
But when the government sought to scrap the NWC and all its functions - as a cost saving measure – the NFF fought hard to ensure that this crucial role of independent oversight was retained, he said.
NFF said due to its advocacy efforts in 2014, the Water Act not only required the Productivity Commission to conduct the new Inquiry – but it also ensured it was done with specialist expertise and in close consultation with stakeholders through the formation of a stakeholder working group.
The announcement of the inquiry’s terms of reference follows the appointment late last year of Professor Jane Doolan and Assistant Commissioner John Madden as Commissioners with specialist expertise in the water sector.
Mr Morrison said water sector reforms had been ongoing over several decades, reflecting the fundamental importance of water to the national economy and the significant challenges involved in managing a shared natural resource often impacted by periods of scarcity.
He said Professor Doolan had extensive senior leadership experience working in sustainable water resource and environmental management, providing policy advice to both state and Commonwealth governments, on issues such as water allocation, river health and catchment management, urban and rural water supply and security, national water reform and water sector governance.
Mr Madden has extensive experience in legislative, regulatory and administrative arrangements for water planning and management, and community consultation and engagement, he said.
The Commission is due to release an issues paper in March this year to stimulate stakeholder feedback and then a draft report in August, ahead of handing its final version to the government in December.
It is the first of the Commission’s inquiries required by the Water Act 2007 while it’s also required to examine the effectiveness of the Murray–Darling Basin Plan’s implementation every five years - with the first one to be completed by the end of 2018.
The water reform inquiry’s terms of reference says the Commission must assess broader water policy issues and the NWI’s role in improving outcomes.
In particular it should assess, “the interaction of water policy with other policy areas such as energy, agriculture, planning, urban supply; whole-of-cycle water management; provision to regional, rural and remote communities; and the economically efficient provision of water infrastructure”.
“The Commission should avoid any duplication between this Inquiry and the subsequent inquiry into the effectiveness of the implementation of the Basin Plan and the state and territory water resource plans,” it said.
“The prioritisation of areas for future reform efforts should reflect the Commission's view as to those areas where continued efforts are required to improve economic, social and environmental outcomes, maintain the gains achieved to date, or where improved outcomes will be delivered from further development of water resources.”