TAG
water buybacks
SA River Murray allocations open at 100 per cent for third consecutive year: Close
For the third consecutive year, South Australian River Murray irrigators will start the 2023-24 financial year with 100 per cent of their water allocation. The floods have contributed to high River Murray system storages, with the major dams at 90 per cent capacity - 26 per cent above the long-term average for the end of June.
“It’s time for action” Productivity Commission told
Last week’s round of Productivity Commission meetings on the impacts of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan had an overwhelming response ... It was reported the commissioners were surprised by the attendance, which gave them a stark lesson in the passion of local communities and the frustration at a failing Murray-Darling Basin Plan and governments which refuse to address its shortcomings ... The Speak Up Campaign ... was represented by chair Shelley Scoullar ... Also at the hearing was Wakool River Assocation chair John Lolicato ... Southern Riverina Irrigators CEO Sophie Baldwin said the large turnout at the meeting was an indication of just how badly the basin plan has impacted our region ...
Productivity Commission Review of the Basin Plan at Deniliquin: The Riverina State
David Landini. The Federal Government Productivity Commission held one of a series of public consultation meetings at the Deniliquin RSL on 8/6/23 ... I took the opportunity to publicly describe the political problems associated with the Basin Plan.
Funding fears halt projects
Reports have surfaced that Victorian Water Minister, Harriet Shing, has halted work on several of the nine Victorian Murray floodplain restoration projects, due to fears the federal government will not reimburse it for the work ... Irrigators now fear that Federal Minister Plibersek will now push on with further buybacks, adding to the current round of buybacks, all bringing with them perverse social, economic and environmental impacts.
Buybacks cost jobs: Irrigation Council
Water buybacks were blamed for 3261 job losses across the economies of 40 southern Murray-Darling Basin communities, according to Murray-Darling Basin Authority modelling by the NSW Irrigation Council ... "Across the southern Basin States, 648 lost jobs (21 per cent of FTE jobs losses) in the profiled NSW communities profiled were attributed to water recovery, 1684 (30 per cent) in northern Victoria and 929 (45 per cent) in South Australia, mostly in its Riverland horticultural centres": NSWIC CEO, Claire Miller.
Government urged to pilot bold new plan to deliver urgent final water flows to Murray-Darling Basin, without the need for buybacks: Waterfind
An Australian-first program designed to restore critical environmental water flows to the Murray-Darling Basin, while meeting the ongoing needs of local irrigators and growers, has been proposed as an “immediate, affordable and genuine” solution to the nation’s Basin Plan – avoiding the need for short-term, unpopular water buybacks as announced by the Federal Government.
Murray votes, Dalton returns
The seat of Murray has seen pink, re-electing Helen Dalton as Member for Murray. Mrs Dalton increased her popularity, obtaining 13,329 votes (48.45 per cent) since leaving the Shooters, Fishers, Farmers Party in 2022 and running as an independent in the electorate larger than Scotland ... In a changing government, Mrs Dalton said she will be looking to build on the momentum of the last four years.
Misleading Deceptive Bastards, Again…
Community members and representatives have been left aghast at the latest actions by a federal agency as they seek to drain more water from the southern connected region ... “I don’t think they could have structured it much better to make sure that they had people stay away from the meeting,” said local farmer and Wakool River Association Chair John Lolicato ... “I don’t think they care. I think they think we’re dispensable.”
Labor’s sneaky closed-door consultation on water buybacks: Littleproud
Labor is sneaking into St George to hold closed sessions on its water buyback plan. A St George information session on the Strategic Water Purchasing Framework will be hosted by the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water on Monday, 13 March, between 2 and 4pm. However, the location remains a secret, and the website link only allows invited guests to rsvp. Leader of The Nationals and Member for Maranoa David Littleproud described Labor’s tactic as “outrageous”.
MRSG ‘disappointed’ that solutions are ignored
The organisation representing community and farming interests across the NSW Murray region has expressed ‘disappointment’ at the Albanese Government’s push to reintroduce water buybacks. The Murray Regional Strategy Group (MRSG) has worked tirelessly on solutions that would help deliver environmental water without sacrificing food production.
