State Member for Murray Helen Dalton said that would be the shocking outcome of the Water Management Amendment Bill 2026, which already passed the New South Wales Legislative Council.
“This will mean an end to private property in rural Australia,” Ms Dalton said.
“The Minns Government is trying to give itself the power to order government floods over private property any time it likes, and there is nothing farmers and communities will be able to do about it.”
“Imagine if the premier decided he had the right to flood your suburban house or apartment, and never have to ask for permission, or pay you for the damage he is doing,” Ms Dalton said.
“That’s what he will be able to do to us in rural Australia.”
“This Act will mean that Water NSW has more power over private property than the actual owners of that private property,” she said.
“How is that okay?”
“We don’t live in Russia, or China. We live in Australia, where we expect our governments to act decently and fairly.”
“I can’t help thinking that Water Minister Rose Jackson and Premier Minns are using the distraction caused by the Farrer by-election over the weekend to try and sneak this disgraceful Bill through,” Ms Dalton said.
“Well guess what? Rural Australia is going to fight this Government Floods Bill with absolutely everything we have got.
“We cannot, and will not, let this happen.”
Southern Riverina Irrigators have sent a scathing letter to the minister, suggesting that if her constituents’ houses in Sydney were flooded by Sydney Water, there would be “hell to pay”...
The SRI accused the minister of rushing through the amendments without giving MPs adequate time to understand the impact.
Ms Jackson said in the second reading speech, the amendment proposed targeted amendments to the Water Management act that were important in delivery of key environmental commitments under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
“Delivering the Basin Plan in full requires actions across a range of areas,” Ms Jackson said.
“One of the most critical actions is the implementation of constraints relaxation projects, which aim to ease physical, operational and policy constraints to the delivery of environmental water.
“By relaxing those constraints, we can deliver more frequent and higher environmental flows that reconnect flood plains and wetlands, helping to restore and protect our river systems and reducing the need for water buybacks by the Federal Government.
“Enabling more frequent and higher environmental flows does mean that, at times, land alongside those rivers will be subject to low levels of inundation.
“In almost all cases, that will be well below minor flood levels.
“Those flows are a natural and necessary part of a healthy river system, and we must ensure that river operators are empowered to facilitate them,” she said.
“Easement acquisition is critical to securing an environmental flow corridor and the successful delivery of the reconnecting river and reconnecting watercourse country programs, as well as any future constraints relaxation projects in NSW.”
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