{"id":104046,"date":"2025-08-29T10:56:13","date_gmt":"2025-08-29T10:56:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/104046\/"},"modified":"2025-08-29T10:56:13","modified_gmt":"2025-08-29T10:56:13","slug":"tanya-plibersek-approved-water-plan-without-reading-it-court-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/104046\/","title":{"rendered":"Tanya Plibersek approved water plan without reading it, court finds"},"content":{"rendered":"

Former federal environment and water minister Tanya Plibersek did not read a major water resource plan before she approved it in November 2022<\/a>, the Federal Court has determined.<\/p>\n

After years of court proceedings, the Federal Court has handed down a decision stating the federal government failed to meet its legal requirements to\u00a0engage\u00a0and consult with\u00a0Indigenous\u00a0groups before approving the New South Wales Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan (FRWRP).<\/p>\n

The resource plan refers to the management of water found in fractures, joints, bedding planes, faults and cavities within rock masses across the Murray-Darling, which is not captured elsewhere in the basin.<\/p>\n

The court heard the then-environment minister did not have a copy of the FRWRP before her when she approved it in 2022.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The River Murray is part of the interconnected system of rivers and lakes that make up the Murray-Darling Basin. (ABC News: Will Hunter)<\/p>\n

Ms Plibersek’s failure to comply with section 63(a) of the Water Act constituted a breach of her governmental responsibility, the court heard.<\/p>\n

The Federal Court has ordered the decision to accredit the FRWRP be quashed and the resource plan be reconsidered by current Environment and Water Minister Murray Watt.<\/p>\n

\"map<\/p>\n

The first water resource plan to be approved for NSW relates to the northern boundary of the Murray Darling Basin. (Supplied: Murray Darling Basin Authority)<\/p>\n

Minister challenged<\/p>\n

The decision is a win for the Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN), which took the government to court<\/a> claiming members of affected nations were not appropriately consulted on matters, including cultural, social, and spiritual aspects tied to water resources.<\/p>\n

MLDRIN is a confederation of 20 traditional owner groups in the southern part of the Murray-Darling Basin.<\/p>\n

During the years-long court case, MLDRIN argued consultation requirements with First Nations rights holders were not met, including a complete failure\u00a0to consult with the Tati Tati Nation.<\/p>\n

\"Tanya<\/p>\n

Tanya Plibersek approved the plan without reading it, the Federal Court has heard. (ABC News: Matt Roberts)<\/p>\n

MLDRIN’s court challenge was against the former minister as an office holder, not against Ms Plibersek as an individual.<\/p>\n

Ms Plibersek declined to comment on the basis that she no longer held that position.<\/p>\n

Basin authority accreditation<\/p>\n

While MLDRIN won that point, it lost another.<\/p>\n

Throughout the court proceedings, MLDRIN argued the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA) had also failed its due process through inadequate consultation.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

The sun setting over Lake Menindee, March, 2025. (ABC News: Bill Ormonde)<\/p>\n

In 2022, MDBA\u00a0recommended\u00a0Ms Plibersek approve the Fractured Rock Water Resource Plan.<\/p>\n

The basin authority told the minister it had contacted\u00a0First Nations rights holders, initially seeking advice on the plan from the\u00a0Northern Basin Aboriginal Network and later from MLDRIN.<\/p>\n

The recommendation to the minister noted MLDRN advised against accrediting the plan.<\/p>\n

MLDRIN had argued MDBA’s decision to recommend approval was invalid.<\/p>\n

The court found the MDBA acted lawfully in recommending to the minister that the plan be accredited, even though consultation with First Nations fell far short of what First Nations required.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Former federal environment and water minister Tanya Plibersek did not read a major water resource plan before she…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":104047,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[12365,64,63,75,4398,75077,48551,75081,75078,75079,128,5726,75080],"class_list":["post-104046","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-environment","tag-aboriginal","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-environment","tag-first-nations","tag-murray-darling-basin","tag-murray-darling-basin-authority","tag-murray-lower-darling-rivers-indigenous-nations","tag-murray-river","tag-new-south-wales-fractured-rock-water-resource-plan","tag-science","tag-tanya-plibersek","tag-water-act"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104046","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104046"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104046\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/104047"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104046"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104046"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104046"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}