THE raging battle to have the state's politicians be transparent about their water ownership is continuing to play out in NSW Parliament.
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On Wednesday the parliament debated a government bill, introduced by Minister for Water Melinda Pavey, proposing NSW state MPs declare their water interests.
Currently, there is no obligation for state MPs to do so.
During the debate some members of the Labor and Greens parties labelled it "far lesser version" of the water transparency bill introduced last year by Member for Murray Helen Dalton.
As part of the debate, Mrs Dalton introduced two possible amendments to the bill - that it be retrospective and include spouses.
In a close vote, the amendments were knocked back, 45-42. The Nationals and Liberals voted against, while Labor, minor parties and Independents were for the changes.
Mrs Dalton's bill is still before parliament and it, along with Ms Pavey's, have both been referred to an Upper House committee for inquiry.
This inquiry will conclude on July 31 and the bills will be voted on in the Upper House after that.
"The NSW government spent six months blocking and delaying my bill - which was also to force politicians to declare their water assets," Mrs Dalton said
"It would have been dead easy for an MP to sell their water in that time.
"This bill means absolutely nothing if it's not retrospective.
"The oldest trick in the book for politicians is to hide their assets in their partners' name."
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The Water Accountability and Transparency Bill, that was introduced by Mrs Pavey, was ultimately passed in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday to allow public oversight of all declarations of water ownership in the NSW Parliament.
In discussing the bill after the vote, Mrs Pavey took a swipe at Mrs Dalton's Shooters, Fishers and Farmers Party.
"This bill will address anger about water ownership and decision making in our communities, caused by miss-truths and conspiracy theories," Mrs Pavey said.
"For too long, the Shooters, (Fishers and Farmers) have been peddling conspiracy theories about NSW Nationals being great water barons, acting in secrecy for our own benefit - our communities deserve better.
"Pitting farmer against farmer for political gain is disgraceful and our communities have been doing it hard enough without people like the Shooters planting these conspiracies within our communities."
Mrs Dalton hit back at this idea, saying "why not kill conspiracies and put all water interests on the public record?"