That is the plea NSW Member for Murray Helen Dalton made in October 2019 when she first revealed she had developed a Water Rights Transparently Bill to be presented to NSW parliament.
Now - after five years of effort, a few knock backs and even a change in political affiliation - Ms Dalton’s fight to establish a register of water owners has been won.
Her private members bill - now known as the Water Management Amendment (Water Access Licence Register Reform) Bill 2024 - was passed by the Legislative Assembly on Thursday.
Ms Dalton said the water register she has convinced the NSW Government to introduce will help stop money laundering as well as the secret purchase of Australian water by foreign governments.
"Until now, Australians have never known who owns our water, but this Water Register will finally lift the lid on who owns what,“ Ms Dalton said.
“That means criminals will no longer be able to hide their proceeds of crime by purchasing and trading water.
“It also means that foreign governments will no longer be able to secretly buy up Australian water without us knowing.
"This will help farmers by restoring common sense to our water markets.
“From now on, the people who buy water will be buying the water for the right reasons. They will be using water to produce the food and textiles that make this country great.”
Ms Dalton praised NSW Water Minister Rose Jackson for supporting her bill.
"Rose is very smart and she understands how strongly voters care about this issue," Ms Dalton said.
“Farming communities are sick of criminals and foreign governments using our precious water for all the wrong reasons."
Ms Dalton also praised her cross-bench colleagues for backing her register.
"The passing of this Bill will be proof that Parliamentarians can, and must, work together on important issues that voters care about.
“Issues like this are above politics."
Ms Dalton first tabled her bill to Parliament in early 2020.
It was voted down three times in that year, despite two petitions in support, each with more than 10,000 signatures and both led by Speak Up Campaign.
A similar bill based on Ms Dalton’s was introduced around the same time as her first attempt to table the bill, and was supported and passed before NSW even put it forward for debate.
An election promise from when she was first elected in 2018, Ms Dalton has never given up on her water register.
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