'Not my job': Barnaby Joyce angrily rejects criticism over controversial water buyback auspol
Prime Minister Scott Morrison has also defended the deal as the result of a "transparent" process.
Mr Morrison also pointed to a $300 million water buyback struck under Labor with Twynam Agricultural Group, owned at the time by Argentina-based agribusiness magnate John Kahlbetzer. That deal has also been criticised for not returning enough water to the environment. Asked whether he knew a company in the Cayman Islands would benefit from his decision, Mr Joyce said such questions were "not my job" and he trusted the department to "do the right thing".
Mr Joyce's attempts to distance himself from the deal appear to contradict his insistence in 2015 that he, rather than assistant minister Anne Ruston, would "have the lead" on water in government. Labor has not ruled out holding a royal commission into the basin plan if it wins office. Mr Joyce said he “wouldn’t give a toss” about appearing before such an inquiry because he had not committed a wrong and had simply followed Labor’s “precedent”.
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