WATER, LAND AND BIODIVERSITY CONSERVATION DEPARTMENT

The Hon. DAVID WINDERLICH (15:37): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for State/Local Government Relations, representing the Minister for Environment and Conservation, a question about the provision of misleading information by the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation.

Leave granted.

The Hon. DAVID WINDERLICH: In the past few years, the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation has been accused by a number of parties, including the Natural Resources Committee of this parliament, of suppressing information or providing misleading information. In 2008, this was highlighted in an NRC report on Deep Creek. This council actually voted to condemn those officers who misled the committee and therefore the parliament or who failed to provide requested information to the committee. This experience was repeated in relation to the Upper South-East drainage scheme, where the NRC report 'To drain or not to drain', which was published in November 2008, found some lack of transparency in relation to the release of program documents. This is a polite way of describing attempts by program officers to prevent access to key documents by the committee and other parties.

I have now received reliable reports that officers of the Department of Water, Land and Biodiversity Conservation are claiming that water tables in the South-East are rising, and this is being put forward to justify the need to proceed with the construction of the Bald Hill drain. These claims are based on an analysis of rainfall over the three years between 2006 and 2008.

As members would recall, 2006 was the worst year of drought, so it makes sense that the water tables were low initially and then rose. I have received an alternative analysis, which is based on data from a government website, that shows a clear decline in water tables over 20 years in the Upper South-East, and that is consistent with the decline in rainfall of 20 to 30 millimetres a decade since 1970.

As I said, this data was obtained from a government website, so either the departmental officers are ignorant or they are being deliberately misleading. I have also stood in a wombat hole in Rocky Swamp recently, in the Parrakie wetlands in the Upper South-East. The wombats are digging for water because the floor of the wetlands are dry; figures can be fudged and consultants can be leaned on, but wombats do not lie.

This statistical debate is important because it is critical to whether or not we proceed with these drains. It is also important because it is absolutely vital that the minister, who must make a decision on this matter in the near future, receives accurate information. My questions are:

1. Will the minister inquire into whether departmental officers are either ignorant or have gone feral and are deliberately misleading the community, and possibly the minister, about the real state of water tables in the Upper South-East?

2. What action will the minister take if it is determined that departmental officers have been deliberately misleading the community and possibly the minister himself?

3. Given that there are now a number of serious allegations about either the honesty or competence of certain sections of this department, will the minister ensure that advice is obtained through a number of sources, and independent sources, in relation to the actual level of water tables and other environmental considerations related to the proposed Bald Hill drain?

The Hon. G.E. GAGO (Minister for State/Local Government Relations, Minister for the Status of Women, Minister for Consumer Affairs, Minister for Government Enterprises, Minister Assisting the Minister for Transport, Infrastructure and Energy) (15:39): I thank the honourable member for his important questions and will refer them to the Minister for Environment and Conservation in another place and bring back a response.