The Liberal MP Sharman Stone has backed the Nationals’ calls for the agriculture minister, Barnaby Joyce, to be given full responsibility for water issues, saying they should be kept together under one portfolio.
The Nationals are warning Malcolm Turnbull against welching on the spirit of the Coalition agreement by giving a Liberal responsibility for water, implying that such a move would fracture government discipline in the Senate.
Joyce, the deputy Nationals leader, is due to meet the prime minister on Wednesday to clarify his responsibilities after water resources was added to his portfolio in line with the Coalition agreement.
It is understood Joyce wants the South Australian Liberal senator Anne Ruston, who was sworn in as the assistant minister for agriculture and water resources, to focus on fisheries, forestry, horticulture and wine, rather than water.
The Nationals also have questions about Liberal Greg Hunt’s Department of the Environment retaining responsibility for the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, which manages environmental water holdings in the Murray-Darling basin.
Stone, a Liberal who represents the regional Victorian seat of Murray, voiced her support for Joyce assuming responsibility for the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder, along with groundwater, surface water, irrigation systems and drought relief.
“I would prefer to keep it all in the one portfolio,” she told Guardian Australia. “Water is key to agricultural production. It is very important that the overall portfolio … should be responsible for all of the water matters associated with primary production.”
Stone’s argument was not that the portfolio should be held by a Liberal or a National but that it should be kept together under one minister and department. In this case it would be held by Joyce, a National.
The MP’s electorate stretches along the Murray river and includes many farms and irrigators. Before entering parliament she worked for Melbourne Water, the Victorian Farmers Federation, the Victorian Department of Agriculture and the Rural Water Corporation of Victoria.
Before Wednesday’s meeting, Joyce warned Turnbull that honouring the agreement was “crucial for how the Coalition works”.
“Within that, certain requirements are there and we support the prime minister and we support legislation,” he told the ABC’s Radio National. “With that comes other things and one of the issues there was that water returned to agriculture and I’m absolutely certain that that will happen.”
Other Nationals are closely watching the outcome of the talks, with vague threats of crossing the floor on future government bills.
The Tasmanian Liberal frontbencher Richard Colbeck , who represents the agriculture minister in the Senate, played down the tensions on Monday, saying both Coalition parties were concerned about proper water allocation and the health of the Murray-Darling basin.
“We are a very, very contented Coalition,” he told the Senate on Monday. “We are working very closely together.
“The operations of the Murray-Darling are in very good hands between the minister for the environment and the minister for agriculture and water resources.”
