Op Ed: Don't Gamble Away South Australia's Water Security on One Nation

Water policy is the lifeblood of our economy and our way of life here in regional South Australia.

It underpins our growers, our packing sheds, our small businesses and the families who have built their lives along the River Murray for generations.

That’s exactly why our community should be deeply cautious about One Nation’s intentions for our river in South Australia. 

You only have to look at Barnaby Joyce’s track record and the alarm bells start ringing.

When he served as Water Minister, Mr Joyce told South Australians that delivering the additional 450 gigalitres under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan was simply too hard.

To him, protecting the lifeblood our regions wasn’t even worth the challenge.

But his contempt for our primary producers didn’t stop there.

Beyond failing to deliver additional water, Mr Joyce was also weak when it came to protecting the water we already have. Under his watch, there was poor metering, little transparency and a look the other way approach to water theft upstream.

For communities like ours, who live and work right at the end of the system, that kind of approach leaves us exposed.

South Australian irrigators know better than anyone that when upstream governments fail to enforce the rules, it’s our growers who pay the price.

And during the Millennium Drought, when irrigators in the Riverland and Mallee were facing some of the toughest challenges in our lifetime, Mr Joyce suggested they should pack up and move to Queensland – “to the north where the water is.” 

That kind of thinking tells you everything you need to know. 

Our irrigators don’t walk away from their communities. They fight for it. They invest in it. They build their lives here. 

They depend on a healthy, flowing river and our entire state depends on the industries they support.

The risk of One Nation is far reaching because every South Australian who eats fresh, locally grown food depends on communities like ours to make that possible.

Now that Mr Joyce has joined the One Nation ranks, he will once again try to shape water policy.

That is a risk our river communities simply cannot afford. 

One Nation and Barnaby Joyce have always had the eastern states in their blood. They have never delivered on water for regional South Australia and there is no reason to believe they will start now.

For communities like Chaffey, getting the Basin Plan right is critical to our economic security.

The future of our region as a viable irrigation community depends on it.

But delivering the Basin Plan isn’t just about targets on paper. Governments must also invest in on-farm and off-farm infrastructure and efficiency programs to maintain our economic base. 

Unfortunately, Labor has used excuse after excuse to dodge the initiatives needed to properly deliver these commitments.

And if Joyce-style water politics take hold here in South Australia, that inaction will only continue.

South Australia deserves water policy that protects our future, not one that gambles with it.

That is why our regions simply cannot trust One Nation.