The Hon. Anne Webster, Member for Mallee, Media Release, 19 June 2026
The Albanese Labor Government’s latest $430 million Murray-Darling Basin water buyback will take more productive water out of agriculture and put more pressure on families already struggling with grocery prices, Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster said today.
The deal involves the Commonwealth buying almost 86 gigalitres of water entitlements for environmental use at a cost of more than $430 million. It takes Labor’s environmental water recovery towards its 450 gigalitre target.
Dr Webster said the purchase shows Labor is still pursuing water buybacks despite repeated warnings from irrigation communities, farmers and food producers about the damage they cause.
“This is another massive hit to the food bowl, and Mallee families and businesses will pay the price,” Dr Webster said.
“Every litre Labor buys out of productive agriculture is water that is no longer growing fruit, nuts, vegetables and fibre. That hurts farmers first, but it does not stop at the farm gate.”
“When horticulture is hit, the damage flows through every town. It hits the truck driver taking produce to market, the machinery dealer, the local accountant, the packaging shed, the café, the hairdresser, the school and every small business that depends on a strong local economy.”
Dr Webster said Labor’s buyback policy ignores the reality of regional communities like Mildura, Robinvale and Swan Hill, where irrigation underpins jobs, exports and household incomes.
“Mallee is one of the nation’s great food-producing regions. Sunraysia alone produces a major share of Australia’s horticultural output. Taking water out of production puts at risk the very businesses that grow the food Australians put on their tables,” Dr Webster said.
“Labor keeps pretending buybacks are painless because sellers are voluntary. But the impacts on communities are not voluntary. Once water leaves production, everyone lives with the consequences.”
Dr Webster said Labor’s latest purchase will also add to pressure in the water market, especially in dry years when irrigators are already facing higher input costs.
“This disastrous policy pushes up competition for the water that remains. That means higher costs for growers, more uncertainty for investors and higher risks for regional employers,” Dr Webster said.
“At the same time, families in the cities pay more for groceries. Labor cannot keep taking water out of food production and then act surprised when food becomes harder to produce and consequently more expensive on supermarket shelves.”
Dr Webster said the Commonwealth must stop treating buybacks as the easy answer and instead focus on practical water savings, infrastructure investment and proper transparency over environmental water already held by government.
“Every farmer in Mallee treats water as precious because it grows the food and fibre our nation needs,” Dr Webster said.
“The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder should have to show that every litre it already controls is being used efficiently and delivering real environmental outcomes before Labor spends hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars buying even more water out of our communities.”
“Mallee does not need more lazy buybacks. We need investment in modern water infrastructure, sensible environmental outcomes and policies that keep our regional towns strong.”
Dr Webster said regional communities deserve to be heard before more productive water is removed from the system.
“Labor and the Greens are chasing a political target while regional Australia carries the cost,” Dr Webster said.
“Mallee communities have been warning for years that buybacks shrink local economies, push up costs and put pressure on jobs. Labor should listen to the people who live with the consequences, not just the voices who see our water from a city office.”
