WATER ACCOUNTING PROBLEM

The Federal Government must now spend another $120 million to replace water it should not have counted in the first place.

In the lead-up to the May 2025 federal election, then-Water Minister Tanya Plibersek changed the rules to make it look like the government had hit its water recovery targets. She moved water from NSW rivers into a separate bucket on paper — without actually recovering it — then stood in front of cameras claiming the government had recovered more than 100 times more environmental water than the previous government.

The problem? The books were wrong. When the Murray-Darling Basin Authority updated its measurements last October, 10 billion litres had to go back. At current prices, replacing that water costs taxpayers up to $120 million.

We don't have a water problem. We have a water accounting problem.

I have advocated for water accountability and transparency for decades. You cannot manage what you refuse to measure honestly. The goalposts keep moving, and every time they do, farmers and taxpayers foot the bill. Premier Minns should withdraw NSW from the entire Murray-Darling Basin Plan until water is counted properly — before a single dollar more is spent.

Support the call for a Federal Royal Commission into water: https://standupforwater.lovable.app/