The MRGC, which comprises six councils — Mildura, Swan Hill, Loddon, Gannawarra, Campaspe and Moira — has accepted an invitation to participate in a public hearing conducted by the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee for the Inquiry into the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023.
MRGC chair and Campaspe Shire Mayor Rob Amos will present the group’s position and the reasons behind the campaign.
“The research and our collective experience tell us that water buybacks damage local industries, economies and communities,” Cr Amos said.
“The legacy water buybacks left on our region last time includes $500 million of lost productivity across the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District each year, massive job losses, business closure and the breakdown of the social fabric of communities. We can’t let that happen again.”
If the Bill is passed into legislation, it will pave the way for the reintroduction of water buybacks from irrigation farmers to meet environmental water targets as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
Cr Amos said the recent visit of Federal Senator David Van to the region was welcomed.
“We appreciated Senator David Van visiting our region last week to hear first-hand our concerns and that of local farmers and agricultural industry representatives,” he said.
“It’s only through parliamentarians taking the time to listen to the voices and stories of ‘real people’ — on farms and in communities — that the gravity of the negative impacts water buybacks cause can truly be understood.
“We encourage all Australian parliamentarians to look beyond water targets only and apply a triple-bottom line (environmental, social and economic impacts) lens when considering how they vote on the upcoming Bill for the benefit of all Australians.”
The Bill was introduced into Federal Parliament by Water Minister Tanya Plibersek, with water buybacks at the heart of the proposed legislation and passed the lower house 85 votes to 50.
The original proposal aimed to return 450Gl of additional water to the environment by June 2024, but the new laws would push back the deadline to December 2027.
The Murray-Darling Basin Plan outlines the amount of water that can be taken from the basin each year, while allowing for an environmentally sustainable amount to remain.
While the laws passed the House of Representatives, the Coalition and Greens have criticised the proposal, meaning its passage through the Senate is uncertain.
Cr Amos has invited Ms Plibersek to come to the region and speak to residents about the outcome of her proposed Bill.
“I’d invite people, the politicians to come up and have a chat to us, especially Minister Plibersek,” he said.
“I know she was in Mildura a few weeks ago and that’s great, but we’d love to see her in our area down here as well.”
Central Murray Environmental Floodplains Group Inc chairman Geoff Kendall likened Ms Plibersek’s approach on the issue to “bulldozing”.
“(The Bill is) set to to take another 450Gl of water away from Australian farmers by Christmas through the Water Amendment Bill, leaving Australian food and fibre production on its knees,” he said.
“Water buybacks are divisive, as they severely impact the economy, environment and population of our river communities.
“Eighty-three per cent of the environmental water recovered under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has come straight out of the southern basin, economically devastating these communities both sides of the Murray River.
“Gone from the region are 228,000 prime lambs, 34,000 prime beef cattle and over 50,000 dairy stock, over 70 dairy farms and the loss of over 1500 personnel, all affecting Australia’s overall food supplies.
“The impact to the region is an annual loss of over $1.3 billion.”
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