The Water Management (General) Amendment Regulation 2021 was disallowed by the legislative council on February 24 by a vote of 18 to 15.
It aimed to regulate floodplain harvesting through licensing, capping and metering.
Greens MP Cate Faehrmann said it was struck down because the government was yet to deal with the concerns raised in the recent parliamentary inquiry about the impacts of floodplain harvesting in the northern basin.
Ms Faehrmann chaired the inquiry committee inquiry, which made 25 recommendations.
“Floodplain harvesting needs to be licensed, but not to the extent that it’s been occurring over the past couple of decades,” Ms Faehrmann said.
“The floodplain harvesting committee handed down recommendations that would see floodplain harvesting regulated in a way that is equitable and environmentally sustainable.
“It’s time for the government to seriously consider them.”
Shooters, Fishers and Farmers member Mark Banasiak said the party’s upper house members did not cast a vote as they considered the disallowance motion “a political game” by Independent Justin Field, who put forward the motion.
Mr Banasiak was deputy chair of the floodplain harvesting select committee.
“The Shooters, Fishers and Farmers stand by good policy,” Mr Banasiak said.
“What is being attempted today puts good water policy at risk and obstructs the path forward to floodplain harvesting regulation.
"The floodplain harvesting inquiry and report... was so factually incorrect and ideologically driven I was compelled to write a dissenting report and draw a line in the sand between political manipulation and sound policy.
“The SFF will not play this game.”
NSW lower house Member for Murray Helen Dalton welcomed the result, but said she was disappointed her upper house SFF colleagues abstained from voting and would be seeking an explanation from them.
“This result is a big victory for communities in the Lower Darling and irrigators in my electorate,” Mrs Dalton said.
“The new laws allowed water take in the northern basin well in excess of legal limits, that means less water for communities in the southern basin.
“Everyone wants to see floodplain harvesting licensed and regulated but first ... we need to make sure the government’s modelling is independently verified, and all water-use is monitored and measured.”
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