Significant flooding and now a major fish kill … it has certainly been a challenging initiation for chief executive of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority (MDBA), UNE alumnus Andrew McConville. Almost a year into the demanding job, he reflects on his role, responsibilities and Robb College connections.
You were most latterly the chief executive of the Australian Petroleum Production & Exploration Association, worked for a large agricultural chemicals company, a major bank and the Australian Wheat Board during the move away from single-desk export marketing, so you’re no stranger to contested spaces. How has it been assuming responsibility for implementing the Murray-Darling Basin Plan?
It’s incredibly interesting, exciting and challenging. There are few things more important than the Basin, and we are balancing the needs of the environment, farmers and communities, First Nations peoples, plus four states, the ACT and the Commonwealth, across a vast area of more than a million square kilometres. It is all very political, and the regulatory and policy framework for water in Australia is also very complex. There are 986 pages of Commonwealth legislation alone, and that’s repeated in every state.
Everyone has an opinion, because people are so passionate about water. Wherever you are in the basin, people upstream think you are stealing it and people downstream think you are wasting it! When I was appointed, it was said by a few wise heads that if you end up with everyone a little annoyed and disappointed then you have probably got it about right. It’s very hard to find a pathway where there is not someone who feels aggrieved. So, yes, there are a few balls in the air and it’s keeping me on my toes.
Given these complexities, how have you approached your role?
You have to be transparent, and prepared to have really robust conversations. I spent the first six months just listening to people – asking them what’s good, what’s difficult and what do we need to do differently. And I repeated that literally hundreds of times. In the first six months I did over 150 stakeholder meetings and travelled to more than 40 locations.
I see my role as setting the strategy and driving the culture of the organisation. They are really the only two things I can own. It’s about setting priorities and allocating scarce resources against those priorities. In terms of culture, I’m trying to ensure that everyone shares the same values and that they guide our decision-making. I want our people to understand how what they do contributes to something bigger and more meaningful, that they have the potential to crack some really difficult problems. It’s my job to create the environment for that to happen.
And then a major flood comes along.
It was not a bad time to be taking over running the MDBA. Certainly much better than during a drought, but we cannot for one minute underestimate the huge impact the floods had on a personal level.
Still, there’s an old expression that there’s money in mud and disaster in dust and that’s pretty true. The flooding has given us some breathing space to think through some important issues. Overall, the basin will benefit from the flooding, and water is getting out on to the floodplain that we haven’t seen in 30, 40, 50 years. But you always have in the back of your mind that the next drought is just a sunset away and the early indications are that La Niña is making a comeback.
And you have other major challenges looming.
Yes. The Basin Plan is essentially an agreement between the states and Commonwealth to recover 3,200 gigalitres of water for the environment and we are still 30% short of where we need to be, to ensure we have a basin that’s healthy, not just for tomorrow but for future generations. I take that very, very seriously, because it will have a series of socio-economic and environmental impacts. We are right up to our eyeballs in that at the moment, because the deadline for achieving the plan is 2024. At the same time we are doing a statutory review of the plan, which has to be delivered in 2026.
Your predecessor was another UNE alumnus, Austin College resident Phillip Glyde. Do you encounter many UNE or college friends in your travels?
Not of late, but I would strongly encourage them to join us; it’s a great place to work. However, all of the stuff that I learnt at UNE and through Robb is coming to play. That connectivity with rural and regional Australia, which is unique to Robb, has really helped throughout my career. It gives you a valuable network and real empathy for rural and regional Australia. Having said that, I was down in Deniliquin the other day with Senator David Pocock and I walked up to the barbecue at the Deni Rugby Club and met someone that I had sponsored in a pub crawl at UNE in 1991. All around the world I have bumped into fabulous UNE graduates. That network is really powerful.
What is your vision for the MDBA and how will you achieve it?
I want ours to be a purposeful organisation that creates rivers for generations. It’s not what we do today, but what happens in 10, 20 or 30 years’ time. It’s a huge challenge but a huge privilege, too. If we can make this work, then what a huge legacy we will leave the nation. That sounds highfalutin, but it’s true. No-one in the world has done what we have to date in restoring a river basin. The Colorado River hasn’t flowed to the sea in over 60 years, which is a tragedy.
The Basin Plan is really powerful; we’ve just got to stick at it and recognise that everyone benefits from a healthy basin. I consider myself privileged to be working with 350 really committed, smart people to achieve that.
It’s the old story – how do you eat an elephant? You take a bite and just keep chewing.
