STANDING COMMITTEE ON
PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION —''PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS: THE NEED FOR
DISCLOSURE AND FAIR COMPENSATION''
829. Mr
D.T. REDMAN to the Minister for Water:
I refer to the recent report of the
Legislative Council committee chaired by Hon Adele Farina into property rights
that gives a damning assessment of the minister's agency's
management of spring rights in the Manjimup and Pemberton districts.
(1) How does the minister account
for the significant inconsistencies in advice to farmers about spring rights?
(2) Does he
accept that this is creating significant unrest in the farming community over
what is a clear legislative right?
(3) What is he going to do about it?
Mr D.J.
KELLY replied:
I thank the member for the question.
(1)–(3) One of the things that I have noticed about the
member during this period in opposition is that he constantly raises
with me complaints about policies that were in place when he was not only in
government, but also Minister for Water. He constantly writes me letters saying
that his constituents had a dealing with my department and they are unhappy
about X, Y and Z in water policy and asking me what I am going to do about it.
I have to write back to the member and say that the policy that the department
applies is the policy that he applied as Minister for Water. I hope he informs
his constituents that the issue that they are complaining about was in fact his
policy when he was minister. That is his pattern.
The
issue of spring rights is complicated at times, depending on the circumstances
of the particular farm and the assessment that is made by the department
about whether or not water that is present on a property is in fact a spring
right. The advice I am given is that that is a complicated policy that has to
be assessed in every circumstance. The member writes me letters asking why this
person is not entitled to access water based on spring rights. Some people
raised that issue before the parliamentary inquiry. I get advice from the
department that says that it applies that policy in exactly the same way as it
has been for many years, including when the
member was the minister. Sometimes when that policy is applied, the applicant
gets the water that they are looking for; sometimes they do not. As a result,
sometimes people are happy; sometimes people are not. My understanding is that
that issue has been applied by the department consistently during this
government, as it was during the member's term in government, including
when he was the minister.