Barnaby Joyce says the Coalition risks “political annihilation” in the bush if the drought worsens and it does not start building dams, as Labor lashes the government for failing to produce a national drought strategy.
The Labor leader, Anthony Albanese, toured drought-affected Stanthorpe in Queensland on Wednesday, saying parts of the state were clearly suffering “natural disaster” and criticising the government for failing to build a single dam since being elected in 2013.
“They talked about dams more than a thousand times in the parliament, this government has spoken about dams [but] they haven’t dug a hole yet anywhere in the entire country to build a dam,” Albanese said.
Following controversy over Joyce’s role as special drought envoy, which Labor has criticised as a political appointment that has not delivered value for taxpayers, the former Nationals leader told Guardian Australia he agreed with Labor that the government needed to “get cracking” on dam construction.
While the government is refusing to release the “awful lot” of reports Joyce claims he sent Morrison while in the role, Joyce said he had used his position to lobby for dam funding, telling Morrison that dams were desperately needed to help provide drought-stricken communities with economic stimulus.
He warned that if Tamworth ran out of water, the government would be faced with a “crisis” that could see voters punish the Coalition at the ballot box.
“It’s no good talking about the crisis when it arrives, it should have been dealt with years ago, but it must be dealt with now, and it will be political annihilation if we don’t,” Joyce said. “I would say, oh, be careful – the electorate is febrile.”
He pointed to the New South Wales state election result that saw the Shooters and Fishers party win the seats of Barwon and Murray off the Nationals and secure a stronghold in the seat of Orange as a warning for what could face the Coalition if it did not act.
“And the thing that will placate people’s fears is if they see that we are actually doing something, they will say, well they can’t make it rain, but they are having a crack at it,” he said. “We have to stop talking about dams, and start building them.”
Joyce said that he had reported to Morrison while envoy that he believed six new dams were needed to help drought affected communities, listing the Nathan dam at the top of the Dawson river, O’Connor dam near Mackay, Mole river near Tenterfield, Dungowan dam near Tamworth, Dubbo and Walcha as proposed sites.
He also said he hoped Labor’s support for dam construction could pressure state governments into removing and streamlining regulations to make them happen.
“Rather than be parochial, let’s work together – nobody is going to lose any political skin over this if people see us working together.”
The water resources minister, David Littleproud, and the treasurer, Josh Frydenberg, were also on a drought tour on Wednesday, visiting Inverell in northern NSW to hear directly from farmers.
When asked about water infrastructure, Littleproud said the states had control over water resources, and called on them to act.
