Hay Shire Council is urging residents to support a petition led by local member for Murray, Helen Dalton, which seeks to protect regional and remote communities from the potential impacts of Commonwealth Water Buybacks. 

The petition which needs 10,000 signatures calls on the NSW Government to ensure that no water transfers occur without a detailed and transparent report into the expected impact of any Commonwealth buybacks. 

This includes the potential economic, social, cultural and environmental consequences of water resources being diverted away from local communities. 

The petition can be signed in the Council main office in Lachlan Street or at Hay library. A copy can be downloaded from www. hay.nsw.gov.au and filled in by hand and dropped off at Council.  

Hay Shire Council asks that residents take the time to come in and sign the petition so that our rural voices are heard. 

“Council, our fellow RAMJO Councils, and in fact communities from across the Basin, deserve to know the economic and social impacts of water buybacks,” General Manager, David Webb said. 

“Council knows that the return of water for efficient infrastructure projects, rather than just the purchase of water, has a better long-term outcome for our community. 

This article appeared in  The Riverine Grazier, 18 September 2024.