I would like to acknowledge the Wiradjuri people on whose traditional lands Albury City is located in. Acknowledging the Traditional Owners not only of this land, their elders past and present, I acknowledge all Traditional Owners throughout the lands and waterways of the Murray-Darling Basin.

Distinguished guests, ladies, and gentleman, it has been 748 days since I last had the opportunity to speak at River Reflections. Since speaking at River Reflections 2022 in Mildura, not only has much of the landscape throughout the Basin changed - thanks to consecutive years’ of the system being flushed with water; the political, legislative and operational landscapes of the Basin have also changed.

Change is ever-evolving, many things effect change; none more so than us.

The conference theme for River Reflections 2024, is: “The art of the possible when tackling complex problems and using the wisdom of the collective to shape a way forward together.”

To me – put more simply – this is, ‘change through collaboration’, the key ingredient in this? Us: the collective.

748 days ago, I told the collective ‘us’ at Mildura that things in the water space, in particular - water resource plans in the state of New South Wales, were simply not good enough.

As I recently shared while giving evidence at the June Senate Estimates hearings, since making my position on the issue very clear at the 2022 River Reflections conference in Mildura, 14 out of 20 WRPs are now accredited and operational. Two of the six remaining plans are currently under assessment. If they are both accredited by end of June 2024 - 80 per cent of NSW WRPs will be operational by the end of this water year, four NSW WRPs (Namoi and Gwydir: two surface water and two ground water) still need to be resubmitted. I have met, in person, with the NSW Minister on those matters and understand the challenges causing those delays.

I am by no means prematurely celebrating the imminent delivery of very (very) late WRPs in NSW but I am encouraging us all to recognise – that through effective, meaningful and active collaboration -- much can be achieved and much has been achieved by the current NSW Government and the MDBA through collaboration to get WRPs into a much better shape than what they were 748 days ago – and well before that. 

For my own office, the initial two to three years of our existence has focussed on regulation and working to achieve that via collaboration with members of the regulatory leader’s forum (RLF). This forum of Basin state members has shown us there was a willingness to collaborate, and in doing so has seen some extremely productive and successful ideas, outcomes, and change emerge.

In his address to the National Press Club in the Great Hall of Parliament House on 25 January 2007, Prime Minister John Howard – among outlining his government’s extensive plan for the Murray-Darling Basin – acknowledged: “Rivers do not recognise those lines on the map that we call state borders…”  And by my reckoning, those lines should pose no barriers to continuing to improve, grow and see ongoing success from Basin-wide collaboration 17 years later and well beyond.

For example, collaboration has resulted in the ongoing work between my office and the states to deliver our second Metering Report Card. The 2022-2023 report card was issued by us in mid-April after ongoing collaboration with Basin states. This collaboration reveals metering compliance improved in priority areas, and for the first time - provided a glimpse into metering for Floodplain Harvesting or Overland Flow rolling out. While highlighting what can happen through an effective and meaningful collaboration, it also provided an opportune time to publicly put a light on the improvement of data sharing and put Basin States on notice that the metering reform deadline of July 2025 is fast approaching.

The most recent annual community sentiment survey I commissioned has shown an upward tick in the confidence of water management across the Basin compared to the inaugural survey results in 2022. This survey’s results -- which are available via the IGWC website -- show there was strong support among all participants for the enforcement of rules and regulations, with the view this was important for the health of our waterways. Confidence and trust in the role of the Inspector-General increased among community members in this survey and shows the value of an independent oversight body for water management is recognised. None of this is achieved in isolation, it can only be achieved through continuous collaboration to affect change. For us, that is collaboration with state, Commonwealth, and industry entities. It is achieved through collaboration with community leaders across all levels, and direct with community members – either as a collective, or one-on-one engagement at the farm gate, or at field days.

For many years as individual entities did their part to improve things across the Basin from 2007 onwards, the community has responded by telling us – the collective us – “you are listening, but none of you are hearing us!”

Is collaboration a one-way thing?  No – it requires flexibility and mutual respect. Collaboration is about listening, honesty, and compromise – it doesn’t mean you always get what you want. For the collective – failure of good collaboration affects the Basin Plan. Previously, we saw examples where non-compliance equals no consequence. No consequence breeds disincentive, disincentive destroys trust.

Only when we have full community connectivity do we have accountability. Where does that word ‘accountability’ sit in regard to collaboration? Accountability is a critical component of any successful collaboration. When people share a common goal and have a clear view of their respective responsibilities, it lays the groundwork for positive outcomes.

In the May Budget, my office received a significant funding boost, $28.6 million on top of our annual budget, for our forward four years’ operation. The Minister and the government have provided exactly what I asked for, and in doing so, have funded me to do my job comprehensively. The fact the IGWC received additional funding to do its job more effectively is not only a boost for compliance, oversight and integrity across the Basin. It is a message to Basin communities that their concerns around issues that directly affect them are being listened to, heard and responded to. This increased budget is a significant measure that helps with our goal to build trust and confidence in the Basin Plan.

Like I did 748 days ago, I will publicly commit to the collective ‘us’ before me today – and all Basin communities – to hold those responsible for managing our nation’s most precious resource to account. this means, where and when required, exercising the powers afforded to this independent role: oversight, inquiry, audit, compliance and enforcement.

The critical inquiry function and power of the Inspector-General not only has the framework for a successful delivery – it now has dedicated funding for that function. At its core, inquiry means ‘accountability’ – using the mechanisms at my disposal to show where it should exist, who is responsible for it, and applying consequences for its failure.

Inquiry also means collaboration. It means collaborating with the MDBA, the CEWH, the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, Environment and Water, IIOs, state agencies and entities, industry, and of course – the Australian public. 

I consider myself a person of integrity. I live by a standard which can be best defined by that famous line from Lt. General David Morrison’s immortalised speech: “The standard you walk past is the standard you accept.”

Keeping in mind the powers at my disposal that I just referred to:

• If through our work I see wrong-doing, I will call it out. 
• If I find evidence that laws have been broken, I’ll use my audit, investigation, and enforcement powers against offenders. 
• If I see integrity, performance, or implementation failures, I can use my inquiry powers. This means, the power to visit sites, compel information, compel a person to appear to answer questions - irrespective who they are.

Sometimes, collaboration requires those hard accountability conversations. And in instances where accountability is missing, ignored or its responsibility obfuscated, I will use oversight, inquiry, audit, compliance, and enforcement powers and capabilities to rectify and ensure crystal-clear clarity and accountability.

To do this successfully, effectively and with great impact so we can affect improvement requires independence. The independent review into the Inspector-General of Water Compliance has been delivered to government. Its recommendations reviewed and agreed to. There is now a pathway paved for me to work towards greater independence.

The community has invested in our independence. Government has invested in our independence. Those we collaborate with are invested in our independence. We know the structure we need to achieve that independence. We are independently funded. We are empowered and authorised by the parliament and the laws of the land to deliver our work with real impact and ensure those we collaborate with always strive for improvement - Basin wide.

With our growth comes the need for like-minded, highly skilled, and capable collaborators to join us… at the risk of what may appear to be an unashamed recruitment drive - let me unashamedly appeal to those in the water space who would like a challenging and rewarding role to consider working with a national integrity agency with oversight, inquiry, audit, compliance, and enforcement powers. I need to expand my leadership team and seek those with qualities, experience and qualifications to shape, drive and deliver impact for the teams across my office who support me. These are senior executive roles that will design and implement our future success.

Complementing my existing highly skilled and experienced staff across the IGWC, I need water industry specialists with compliance, monitoring, oversight, investigations, audit, and legal experience who will deliver the impact of what the IGWC brings to the Murray-Darling Basin. In return, those who join us will have the opportunity to affect continuous improvement.

I need industry specialists with water trade and regulation experience to assist me meet our newly legislated trade obligations.

I need exceptional legal talent to lead and drive a new independent in-house legal counsel within the IGWC. 

I need specialists with inquiry experience – a power that I can already see needs to be exercised to look into matters that, for too long, have fed and contributed to apathy, which left addressed equals no consequence. No consequence breeds disincentive. Disincentive destroys trust. With no trust, there can be no confidence.

Ladies and gentlemen, we are living and working in dynamic time nationally for compliance, oversight and integrity within the water space. Certainly from my own perspective, I started in this role back in 2021 with a small team, made up of a composite of secondees and existing Northern Basin staff. Gradually, we have grown as we’ve established the roles and functions required for my office to have an impact. With that growth came the ability to collaborate more effectively. Through that collaboration came the beginning of change, which as I said at the very start, is ever-evolving. With impact and change comes improvement. With improvement comes increased trust and confidence and with that trust and confidence, along with a plan to support the Murray-Darling Basin, comes the once in a lifetime opportunity to get it right, and make things right, for the next generation and the generations who follow.

I look forward to continuing to make that change through collaboration.

Watch the Inspector-General deliver this speech on the IGWC YouTube channel.