‘Water bandits’ on notice: Farrer Labor candidate Kieran Drabsch announces plan for a taskforce

Kieran Drabsch will stand at the federal election this year and said with small Riverina towns regularly complaining about water theft in the Murray Darling Basin, trust needed to be restored.

His ideas are not official Labor policy, but he said they reflected the views of the party and Opposition Leader Bill Shorten.

“It’s to make sure that we hold the water bandits and water barons to account by establishing a dedicated federal taskforce to manage, investigate and prosecute anyone who dares steal the lifeblood of our communities,” he said.

“Over the last five years our trust in the federal Coalition government has been broken through special deals, water theft and mismanagement – both intentional and unintentional.”

Under the proposal, a Sustainable Water Research Centre would be established in the Riverina, and work on expanding the University of Newcastle’s hydroelectric energy harvester to create a water renewable energy network.

“We need to find a way to bring water back into the system, we have to take a chance in our future by investing in our scientists today,” Mr Drabsch said.

“In the long term, it’s going to provide water to the system - if the technology works the way we expect - and in the short them, it’s about restoring trust.”

He has launched an online petition on the issue, which he said he would present to Labor shadow ministers in a month, but wanted the project to be bipartisan.

“At the moment, I’m the only person standing up for action today,” Mr Drabsch said.

They’re constantly playing the blame game … I’m going to look for solutions.

“Just look at the heat this year.

“It’s going to get worse, it’s going to get drier and if we don’t invest in better solutions to manage the climate, guess what? We’re going to have crisis after crisis.”

Member for Farrer Sussan Ley called the proposed water policy “devoid from reality”.

“Right now we need an independent audit of how water is allocated to farmers and the environment,” she said.

“The Labor candidate’s announcement either repeats work already done or is simply a hopeful and un-costed wish list.”