CEO Report
What a whirlwind couple of weeks it has been! A new government, a new opposition, an energy crisis, economic headwinds, rising inflation and cost of living, falling house prices, a forgotten pandemic and a continuingly challenging international environment.
The new Government has its work cut out for it.
I have written to the new Prime Minister and Ministers to congratulate them on their appointments and let them know where NIC stands on a number of issues. I have also asked for meetings with the Ministers and have issued invitations for them to meet with NIC members in the near future.
Tanya Plibersek has been sworn in as Minister for the Environment and Water, and Murray Watt has been appointed Minister for Agriculture. Chris Bowen and Jenny McAllister take on the Minister and Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy roles. Linda Burney and Malarndirri McCarthy are the new Minister and Assistant Minister for Indigenous Australians. There are six new Ministers in the Infrastructure, Regional Development and Communications portfolio - Catherine King, Michelle Rowland, Madeleine King, Kristy McBain, Carol Brown and Anthony Chisholm – and I’m just awaiting confirmation on which of these Ministers will be responsible for water infrastructure. Finally, Ed Husic is the new Minister for Industry and Science and Tim Ayres is the new Assistant Minister for Manufacturing.
NIC extends our congratulations to the Ministers and very much looks forward to working with them to secure the future of the irrigated agriculture sector which is feeding and clothing Australia and the world.
The new Opposition has also been appointed under the leadership of Peter Dutton.
I have also written to the Opposition Leader and the Shadow Ministry to congratulate them on their appointments and to request meetings to discuss NIC’s policy priorities.
David Littleproud continues in the Agriculture portfolio and has been elected Leader of The Nationals, while Perin Davey takes on the Shadow Ministry for Water and Emergency Management and has been elected Deputy Leader of the Nationals. Jonathon Duniam has been elevated to Shadow Cabinet has Shadow Minister for the Environment, Fisheries and Forestry, and is joined by Ted O’Brien as the Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy, supported by Hollie Hughes as Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy. Julian Lesser is the new Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians. Sussan Ley has been elected Deputy Leader of the Liberal Party and is the new Shadow Minister for Industry, Skills and Training, while Michelle Landry has taken on the role of Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing. Finally, there are also six Shadow Infrastructure, Regional Development and Communications Ministers: Bridget McKenzie, Sarah Henderson, Susan MacDonald, Andrew Gee, Anne Webster and Tony Pasin.
NIC extends our congratulations to the Shadow Ministry on their appointments and again looks forward to working with them to progress issues and address challenges in the irrigated agriculture sector.
The Machinery of Government changes have commenced. There is a new super Department of Climate Change, Energy, The Environment and Water which we will work closely with, as well as the Department of Agriculture. The existing water agencies will move under the new department as well as the policy and legislative functions which have been in the current Department of Agriculture, Water and Environment. It remains to be seen on whether the Government will in fact revive the National Water Commission and potentially create the new Water Markets Agency, or whether it folds a number of these processes into one agency – for example the Inspector-General of Water Compliance – and whether these agencies assume the responsibilities of the Productivity Commission and Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in regard to water. The energy regulators and agencies will also move across to the new super department, where necessary.
With all of this in mind, there is a significant amount of change in Canberra. Committee appointments will soon be made and we will map out our stakeholders and start building/rebuilding connections to engage. It will take several weeks for Ministers to recruit staff and for the Parliament to be sworn in and get working. At this stage, I’m hearing the last week of July will be a sitting week and hopefully we will get an understanding of the sitting schedule for the rest of the year. There will also be a new Budget delivered around 25 October and we will engage in that process.
In other news, the South Australian Government delivered its Budget last week. The Budget included $2 million for the establishment of a Commissioner for the River Murray in South Australia. MDBA has put out projections for ‘wet and wetter' conditions across the Basin. There’s been articles published this week discussing the possibility of La Niña remaining active. Given three back-to-back weather events have resulted in 80% crop losses in some areas and lettuces at $12 a head, other significant rainfall events may continue to put upward pressure on prices and may affect crop yields. ABARES have released figures to show agricultural trade is at record levels, while noting projections are excellent for winter crops. You can find out more about these in the Useful Links section below.
Finally, I wanted to mention the River Reflections Conference which was held in Mildura last week. I attended and had the opportunity to meet with a number of key stakeholders from the MDBA, CEWH and DAWE, as well as important representatives from First Nations communities, environmental interest groups and the business and tourism sectors. It was an extremely positive conference with participants again reiterating the need for collaboration, not conflict to progress future water policy. Minister Plibersek also made an address (on her second day in the job!) outlining some of her key priorities going forward. We’ve included the link to the video below.
As always please feel free to get in touch if you would like to discuss any or all of this update, or on any other matter.
All the best.
Cheers, Isaac