NSW Dam Proposals: No Details, No Plan, No Action

14 October 2019

Labor welcomes the announcement of any serious proposals to resolve water security issues in drought-ravaged communities in NSW, but we are yet to see any detail of these new dam investment proposals.
 
Australians and regional communities are rightly sceptical about the Morrison Government’s track record on water infrastructure and drought policy.
 
In 2013, Tony Abbott said he would build 100 dams across Australia. Three terms later and in its seventh year of power, this Government failed to build a single new dam.
 
The Morrison Government has not even bothered to brief the Labor Party on these dam proposals. If they were serious about water security proposals they would have provided a detailed briefing.
 
This Government has been quick to make announcements and offer false hope for regional communities who are desperate for action on water security, but they have failed to deliver time and time again. 
 
The Morrison Government needs to explain how these projects stack up to anything more than a media release and a press conference, as we have no detail on the proposals.
 
Scott Morrison’s drought and water security policy so far, has been policy on the run.
 
On the drought more broadly, the Government has had a Drought Summit, a Drought Coordinator, a Drought Envoy and a Drought Taskforce, but our farmers and rural communities are still waiting for a comprehensive and effective policy.