Whilst our NSW SFFP team have been continuing the fight for transparency in the water market, we have been fighting the same battle here in Victoria. Jeff Bourman MP issued a motion to parliament calling for all politicians to declare their water interests and we got results!

 

Jeffs motion was as follows:

That this house notes that:

(1) members of Parliament are currently not required to declare any interest in  water  shares or  water  trading and that members of Parliament should, without delay, declare any and all interests in  water  trading in, but not limited to, the Murray-Darling Basin plan;

(2) government bureaucrats involved in any matters relating to  water  should immediately declare any and all interests in the  water  market that they themselves or any related entity holds; and calls on all Victorian members of both state and federal parliaments to declare their interests in the  water  market. 

Jeff’s motion was ultimately unopposed and therefore successfully passed, meaning there is no excuse for any relevant member to not disclose their water interests which may influence their decision making in parliament and expose any conflicts of interest. We wish our NSW colleagues the best as they continue their fight for transparency in their water markets.