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Legislative Assembly
 
WATER POLICY

05 February 2020
Questions without notice and ministers statements
Lisa Neville  (ALP)

 


Ms NEVILLE (Bellarine—Minister for Water, Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (16:17): Thank you for the supplementary. I think the member would understand we have a legal obligation around 62 gigalitres of that 450. We will deliver our component. We have got projects on the table, all of which are beneficial and will not have a negative impact—the Mitiamo project, the East Shepparton project, for example—modernisation projects. We will continue to do that bit.

That report was pretty clear: the New South Wales and the Victorian governments—again, different governments—put that report together with the independent experts that made it pretty clear it was going to be very difficult to deliver any more water down without significant environmental risk. We are asking for that to be assessed by the ministerial council. We need to go through a process. I think it is going to be impossible to deliver without significant damage, but we need to go through the process, which is appropriate, so that people come along with us based on the evidence.

I would say again just to put on record my disappointment with the authority, which is continuing to put high flows down the Goulburn despite what we have said to them. They need to lift their game.