Federal-state tensions over water issues have escalated with South Australia demanding Barnaby Joyce, the federal Water Minister, drop his nomination of an irrigation lobbyist to the Murray Darling Basin Authority's board.
South Australian Water Minister Ian Hunter this month wrote to Mr Joyce to complain about his nomination of Perin Davey to fill one of two openings on the board overseeing implementation of the $13 billion Murray Darling Basin Plan.
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At the time, Mr Hunter called the appointment "ill-advised" because of Ms Davey's record of "strongly advocating against the delivery of the plan".
Those concerns have been heightened by Ms Davey's apparent membership of a group of irrigation lobbyists given special briefings by Gavin Hanlon, a senior NSW water bureaucrat.
ABC's Four Corners on Monday aired leaked recordings of Mr Hanlon apparently offering to share confidential information with that group, including discussing a "Plan B" to withdraw the state from the Murray Darling Basin plan altogether.
Ms Davey, who served on the NSW Irrigators Council until late last year, did not deny her presence on those calls, telling Fairfax Media on Wednesday: "I can't comment on that."
Mr Hunter said Mr Joyce had attempted to weaken the board by trying to appoint a "National Party hack", who was committed to undermining the river recovery plan.
"Perin Davey was not only a staffer with former Nationals Senator Ron Boswell, but she was a member of the National Irrigators Council," Mr Hunter said in a media statement on Wednesday.
![Barnaby Joyce has been urged to drop the nomination for Perin Davey to the Murray Darling Basin Authority's board.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170729102708im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/x/i/s/1/u/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxiw1g.png/1501139806196.jpg)
"I have already asked Mr Joyce to reconsider his appointment of Ms Davey and I strongly urge him now to remove her from consideration."
Fairfax Media sought comment from Mr Joyce. In his letter supporting Ms Davey's appointment, Mr Joyce last month said Ms Davey had "a well-grounded understanding of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and is very experienced in stakeholder engagement regarding water policy issues in Australia."
![Water stand-off: South Australia raises fresh concerns about federal policies.](http://web.archive.org./web/20170729102708im_/https://www.fairfaxstatic.com.au/content/dam/images/g/q/l/o/t/8/image.related.articleLeadwide.620x349.gxiw1g.png/1501052476849.jpg)
'Still interested'
Ms Davey said she "was still very interested in the role", and rejected claims she had opposed the plan.
"What I support is a balanced implementation of the plan," she told Fairfax, adding that her strengths for the role include her ability to communicate its impact to affected communities.
Mark McKenzie, chief executive of the NSW Irrigators Council, said he supported Ms Davey's appointment to the board, and said there was no reason to hold up the process in light of the ABC report.
"She would be perfectly suited to the role," Mr McKenzie said.
He said he was aware of the group meetings led by Mr Hanlon but couldn't say if Ms Davey had been a member.
Mr McKenzie said he had personally taken part in two such group meetings, the more recent of which was either late last year or early this year.
"We were not formally represented in the group," Mr McKenzie said, adding "there's nothing unusual in having confidential discussions" with government departments.
"The MDBA board is being stacked with irrigator lobbyists," said Paul Sinclair, a spokesman for the Australian Conservation Foundation. "This undermines the credibility, independence and integrity of the MDBA."
"Barnaby Joyce must urgently address whether any sitting or nominated board members were involved in these secret meetings, which sought to undermine the basin plan," he said.
NSW response
Fairfax Media sought comment from Niall Blair, NSW Department of Primary Industries minister, about whether he supported Ms Davey's appointment to the Murray-Darling Basin board.
On Tuesday, Simon Smith, the secretary of NSW DPI told staff in an email that he had been asked by Mr Blair to commission "an arm's length, independent review into the matters raised" by the ABC.
"To ensure the probity of this process and confidence in the outcomes, I will be appointing an independent person to conduct the review," he said. "Separately, I will be referring this matter to [the NSW Independent Commission Against Corruption] for their consideration."
A spokeswoman for Mr Blair said Mr Hanlon – the deputy director general of water – had been reassigned "to a role in another division of the department that has no legislative responsibility for water issues".