Selective Engagement CONFIRMED

Last week saw the unintended release of an internal NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) email thread.

The thread was related to Floodplain Harvesting changes that required stakeholder engagement, seemingly a straight forward undertaking.

If you are the NSW Government’s DPIE department do you-

• Send it to all stakeholders on the stakeholder list?
• Send it to all irrigator groups?, or;
• Send it to those favourable to DPIE?

If you chose A, remember this is Murray Darling Basin Plan related, take your moral compass and sit in the corner.

If you chose B, you are starting to question the ethics, but irrigators come in many forms; from Mum’s and Dad’s to foreign owned corporates or banks, and it also depends on your geographical location and political pull.

If you chose C, you must be a tin hat wearing anti-basin plan nut job.

You decide from the email conversation, (names redacted)... We pick up after artwork was confirmed-

Ok, consider this a simple stakeholder engagement, about floodplain harvesting changes, where you just need to let EVERY stakeholder know.

The DPIE indicates they only choose those who they have regular “catch ups” with and who don’t fall into the “tend not to be favourable to DPIE Water” category. So, the community action groups going without water on the Lower Darling are “not favourable with DPIE Water.” Is that because of the mass fish kills? Communities and towns going without water? Or destruction of their economy and environment?

Or is it because NSW Water Minister Melinda Pavey is once again attempting to cement the overextraction of floodplain harvesting in legislation? This, despite a mounting pile of evidence, some of which suggests they can capture FIVE TIMES the original capped water volume take.

What is that other group they are not allowed to send it to without ‘background’?

Murray Regional Strategy Group, must be a wild bunch, why then have they had meetings with the Deputy Prime Minister and the Prime Minister. Members of this wild group include Murray Irrigation, Rice Growers of Australia, Southern Riverina Irrigators and Speak Up for Water*

Which Stakeholders did they engage with?

NSW Farmers Association - Interesting internal history on water advocacy, DPIE might want to do some research.

NSW Irrigators Council - An organisation that hardly seems fit to claim to represent all of NSW, appearing to publicly align themselves with Northern NSW centric water policy. On the rare occasion when they do support Southern NSW issues, they soon publicly contradict their position. 

 3.  Murray Darling Association- where do I even start, the entity that historically started in Kerang, claims to represent local governments in the basin but has very few of our local governments as members. Maybe DPIE should background MDBA membership and delegate distribution. 

Is it a balanced plan, based on best available science, to save our rivers?