Millions of dollars set aside to secure water for Indigenous groups in the Murray-Darling Basin is yet to be spent, with not a drop of water bought to date.
In 2018 the former Coalition government announced $40 million over four years to "allow [Indigenous Australians] to economically participate in water and ensure that they get not only economic, but also cultural outcomes".
Earlier this week the federal government committed a further $9.2 million to establish a "world-leading" initiative for delivering water rights to Indigenous Australians.
But water is yet to be bought and First Nations groups argue the money is losing its buying power, leaving them short-changed.
Independent research shows the rising cost of water entitlements, particularly in the southern part of the basin, means the value of the money set aside has "declined substantially in the past five years".
Research firm Aither, which specialises in water policy, says groups would need 40 per cent more money to secure the same amount of water from 2018 to now.
"We've lost out," Tati Tati traditional owner and Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations (MLDRIN) deputy chair Brendan Kennedy said.
"The value now of owning water rights purchased in 2018 would have increased, and our ability to be participants in the water space has been lost, as well as the opportunities that come from that."
Mr Kennedy said the government's announcement had sidelined the ongoing concerns basin nations had about water access.
"The government's promising more money when they have not delivered the original promise. For me, I'm thinking here is another drawn-out, slow process.
"It takes the hard-basket issues in Murray-Darling Basin and stretches them into a national issue; it's the old divide-and-conquer tactic".
Water policy comment 'disgraceful'
The Commonwealth will spend $9.2 million to "consult and design an enduring arrangement for First Nations peoples to own, access and manage water in Australia".
The model will be developed in collaboration with the Committee on Aboriginal Water Interests, the Coalition of Peaks, the Indigenous Land and Sea Corporation and other stakeholders.
Indigenous Australians own just 0.2 per cent of surface water rights in Australia despite owning nearly 40 per cent of land through native title, according to Water Minister Tanya Plibersek.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have told me that the current arrangements for water holding isn't always appropriate for First Nations, who have their own cultural and economic needs and aspirations," Ms Plibersek said in a statement.
Mr Kennedy said that statement was "disrespectful" and "insensitive".
"This is not about whether it isn't always appropriate; it has never been appropriate for First Nations people," he said.
Tensions over state and territory water allocation decisions and the wishes of traditional owners have emerged over the past five years, including along the Fitzroy River in Western Australia and in the Northern Territory.
The Commonwealth cannot legislate water rights for Indigenous Australians because it falls under state powers, however it can bring state and territory governments together to establish a nationally consistent framework for water governance.
In 2020 the Productivity Commission called for the existing national framework, the National Water Initiative (NWI) to be overhauled, labelling it unfit for the challenges posed by population growth and climate change.
It also urged state and federal governments to explicitly include the aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to own water rights and include this policy objective in any future iterations of the NWI.
