The NSW Labor Opposition has accused the NSW National Party of scrambling at “five minutes to midnight” to cover for a decade of failures on water policy, as rural and regional towns run dry.
A Sydney Morning Herald report has today revealed the Berejiklian Government is again dealing with the antics of Deputy Premier John Barilaro, as it is forced to consider the Murray-Darling Basin agreement that was signed off by the Premier Gladys Berejiklian just four months ago.
The leaked cabinet documents also reportedly show eight of 20 water resources plans may not be submitted by the end of year deadline, resulting in a $16 million loss of funds to the state.
Labor Shadow Water Minister Clayton Barr said the $16 million is just the start of what NSW will pay for Berejiklian Government’s hopeless management of water and country NSW deserves better.
“The Liberals and Nationals are clearly scrambling after making a complete mess of water allocations,” Mr Barr said.
“They haven’t built a single dam in nearly a decade, they have signed off on water sharing plans that scientists believe are failing river communities, they haven’t completed water audits, they are facing inquiries into possible corrupt conduct and time and again they prove themselves to be incompetent.”
“The NSW water crisis is worsening but instead of coming up with a real plan, the NSW National Party Leader John Barilaro and National Party Water Minister Melinda Pavey are playing politics.”
“I can’t count the number of times John Barilaro has threatened to pull out of the Murray Darling Basin – but he never goes through with it.”
“By pointing the finger at South Australia, they are simply attempting to distract from the disaster this Government has made in terms of water allocations in New South Wales.”
“It’s five minutes to midnight – the Berejiklian Government should have been focused on these issues years ago. Where have they been?”