District residents are being urged to attend water inquiry hearings in Deniliquin and Griffith later this month, to demonstrate the importance of having the right policies in place.
The NSW Government’s Committee on Investment, Industry and Regional Development inquiry will look at the impacts of Federal Government imposed water reforms on regional NSW.
In particular, it will look at the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Act 2023 which includes further water buybacks as a form of recovering water for the environment.
The Deniliquin hearing will be held Tuesday, July 22 at the Deniliquin Town Hall.
The Griffith meeting will be held the following day.
Because the meeting times were postponed from June when fog prevented inquiry members from travelling to the region, Member for Murray Helen Dalton said she is unfortunately not able to make the Deniliquin meeting.
But she urges as many community members as possible to go along, listen and show the inquiry panel they support the need for balanced policies.
“The panel is here to interface with people - to have a yarn,” Mrs Dalton said.
“I am encouraging people to go to the public hearings, and to go with placards which say ‘no water, no food’.
“The message is as simple as that.”
The inquiry is being chaired by Independent Member for Barwon Roy Butler.
Other inquiry panel members are Liberal Party member and Member for Albury Justin Clancy, Richie Williams from The Nationals and Labor members Stephen Bali (deputy chair), Charishma Kaliyanda, Warren Kirby and Maryanne Stuart.
The inquiry was announced in February this year, and in the community feedback period 101 submissions were received.
In addition to individual stakeholders, SunRice, Murray Irrigation, Speak Up Campaign, Murray Regional Strategy Group, Southern Irrigators and Murray River Council provided submissions.
“We understand the importance of hearing directly from regional New South Wales communities,” Mr Butler said.
“The committee received a large number of submissions from the Riverina and Murray areas, and we will ensure these stakeholders have the opportunity to tell us first-hand how changes to water policy have impacted their communities, their local agriculture and their businesses.”
Members of the public interested in the inquiry can follow its progress on the committee's website, where the details of public hearings will be published as they are finalised.
If people would like to be informed when the schedule for the hearings are published, they are also welcome to email the committee at investmentindustry@parliament.nsw.gov.au.
A livestream of the two public hearings will be available on the NSW Parliament website.