The South Australian Liberal Party is clearly divided along factional lines on how South Australia recovers the 450 gigalitres promised under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and it’s putting the health of the river and the State’s water security at risk.

Federal SA Liberals are currently running diametrically opposed arguments on the Commonwealth buying water for the environment from willing sellers – one for country voters and one for their at-risk city seats.

Last month, Sturt Liberal MP James Stevens told The Australian newspaper that “buybacks under the socio-economic test that don’t disadvantage the communities that affect them should be considered.”

However, on Tuesday this week, Barker MP Tony Pasin told the Murray Pioneer “buybacks kill communities.”

The 2019 Royal Commission into the River Murray found that buybacks had no adverse impact on river communities.

Further, Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek has committed $20 million for South Australian river communities if there is any credible evidence they are affected by voluntary buybacks.

The conflicting statements follow a long tradition of the SA Liberals having a bob each way on the issue, sometimes from the same MP.

Opposition Leader David Speirs told In Daily in 2019 as then Environment and Water Minister, that “buybacks are something that should always be considered when it comes to returning water to the river and I certainly wouldn’t rule them out”.

However, it’s the Member for Chaffey, Tim Whetstone, who takes the cake for mixed messaging on buybacks.

“(I am) extremely concerned by Labor’s dialogue around the re-introduction of buybacks to achieve the 450GL,” Mr Whetstone told Farm Online in April last year.

However, Mr Whetstone told parliament last month buybacks “should be on the table…”

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Attributable to Susan Close

The SA Liberal are treating the electorate with contempt if they think they can say one thing in the seat of Barker and another in Sturt or Boothby.

They really need to get on Team SA and support the recovery of the 450 gigalitres for the sake of the river’s health, our irrigators and the more than one million South Australians that rely on a healthy working river.

I know there are South Australian irrigators wanting to sell some of their entitlement for the environment because I’ve had Liberal MPs call my office inquiring about how their constituents go about applying.

The SA Liberals need to stop hedging their bets on this issue and support Federal Labor’s amendments to the Water Act that will enable us to recover the 450 gigalitres that we were promised.