TAG
water buybacks
Ministers asked to fight for rural communities
“Don’t forget how hard we fought to get an effective socio-economic neutrality test.” That is the message from the community-based Speak Up Campaign, which is encouraging state water ministers in New South Wales and Victoria to ensure the agreed test is applied before any more water is recovered ... “All the indications suggest Ms Plibersek wants to reintroduce water buybacks, despite the massive social and economic damage from previous buybacks": Speak Up chair Shelley Scoullar.
Murray Darling Basin Authority is out of touch: VFF
The Victorian Farmers Federation has expressed outrage towards the comments made by Murray Darling Basin Authority Chief Executive Andrew McConville in his Rural Press Club address, 10 years after the Basin Plan gave the green light to take water from farming communities. VFF Water Council Chair Andrew Leahy said Mr McConville’s commentary ignored the ongoing impact of the Murray Darling Basin Plan on farming communities and sounded like it was designed to appease the Federal Labor government ... “We expect the MDBA CEO to be professional and impartial, not a political sycophant. It seems he needs to re-read the Basin Plan as he forgot to mention in his speech that the 450GL is only possible if there are no negative social and economic impacts”.
No secret pact for water buybacks: Anderson
The NSW Government has reaffirmed its opposition to non-strategic water buybacks being used to meet water recovery targets as part of the Murray Darling Basin Plan ... Mr Anderson said the NSW Government welcomes the Commonwealth correcting the record and reaffirming there is no open round of buybacks being undertaken. “We have seen first-hand the negative long-term impact non-strategic buybacks have had on our communities and we want to avoid this,” Mr Anderson said.
Secret water buyback deal slammed: NSW Farmers
The state’s peak farming group has slammed secret water buyback plans that will hurt rural communities in NSW. On Friday afternoon The Land revealed state water ministers had agreed to almost 50 gigalitres of water buybacks at last month’s Ministerial Council meeting, with most of that water coming from NSW.
Governments urged to withdraw from Basin Plan
UGRCA. The Victorian and NSW Governments need to withdraw from the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, according to an advocacy group. Upper Goulburn River Catchment Management Association representative, Jan Beer, says there appears no other option, with zero appetite from the Albanese Government to listen to and understand the implications of its Basin Plan proposals. Mrs Beer said it has become impossible to reason with new federal Water Minister, Tanya Plibersek, so it will be left up to the respective state governments to protect their communities.
Water management killing the Darling-Baaka
New research published by the University of NSW confirms that it is the over extraction and mismanagement of water that is causing most of the damage to the Darling-Baaka River, not climate change. NSW Nature Conservation Council calls for the Federal Water Minister to stand firm on the timelines for water recovery in the Basin Plan, and restore the voluntary, open tender water buy back process.
Tackling the growing food security issue: NSW Farmers
Food security is a growing problem for Australian families, according to a new state government report, with remote communities the worst affected. The Food production and supply in NSW report, from the NSW Legislative Assembly’s Committee on Environment and Planning, found food supply disruption was a driver of food insecurity, and that remote communities were unfairly burdened by the problem.
Hard truths from WESA should prompt rethink on 450GL: NFF
Australia’s peak farm body says the release of the Second Water for the Environment Special Account (WESA) Report should prompt a major rethink of the Australian Government’s policy of recovering an additional 450GL under the Murray Darling Basin Plan. National Farmers’ Federation President Fiona Simson said the findings provide Water Minister Tanya Plibersek the opportunity to reset the Government’s approach, and to focus on achievable pathways to realise environmental outcomes.
Build policy on solutions, not winning votes: Speak Up
The community-based Speak Up Campaign has joined the growing list of organisations expressing concern at last week’s Labor Party announcement around implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. In particular is the issue of water buybacks, which Labor’s Shadow Water Minister Terri Butler conceded, “If we have to” was “an option that will have to be pursued.”
Water fight risks real damage: NSW Farmers
"There are real opportunities to deliver environmental outcomes to the river system without reducing production. I would call on both sides to put aside the political point scoring around who's tougher on water, and instead build upon the opportunities in the basin plan that have been hard fought but are still yet incomplete": Richard Bootle, NSW Farmers Water Taskforce Chair.
