Basin Plan Deal Disastrous

The new deal brokered for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is void of sense, according to the Federal Member for Riverina Michael McCormack.

Water Minister, Tanya Plibersek has announced, though, that she would forge ahead with the plan without Victoria, who has declared they want no more buybacks.

Mr McCormack said the deal would be disastrous for river communities, farmers and the environment, leaving many towns high and dry while flooding other ecological systems.

“How is it even possible to deliver the plan without one of the major states being included?” Mr McCormack asked.

“Could you imagine the outcry had we, in government, attempted such folly.”

Mr McCormack, who famously moved a disallowance motion against the plan in the Federal Parliament in December 2012, said irrigation communities would again be left desperately worried by the prospect of unwanted water buybacks.

“My actions more than a decade ago led to the Coalition adopting the policy of no buybacks,” Mr McCormack said.

“It was not easy at the time but it was the right thing to do.

“Water politics is difficult, I appreciate that, but you cannot enact policies that remove productive water from food-growing areas and reduce the economic production of those vibrant places.

“If you do that, it leaves stranded assets, fewer farmers and hurts everyone in the community.

“People who sell their water leave the area and that’s less business for the café, hairdresser, mechanic et cetera and fewer children attending local schools.

“The ripple effect is massive and some centres do not recover.”

Mr McCormack describes buybacks as “the lazy way” of recovering water.

“The Minister says she will resume buybacks – well, she will have a fight on her hands!” he said.

“Even the new Labor Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, said he was against buybacks.”

Mr McCormack said he doubted the necessity of trying to retrieve another 450 gigalitres for the environment and the ability to even push such a volume of water through the system.

“The infrastructure which exists in those river towns – roads, bridges – won’t cope with that amount of extra water being forced south,” Mr McCormack said.

“I’d hate to own a riverside caravan park of which there are many. Who will compensate them when their vans go under?

“What is going to happen with the Barmah Choke with all that water and now Victoria is no longer on board?

“There are more questions than answers and the Minister should realise this will not work and communities will not just roll over and give up their productive water only to have man-made flooding and then to see it all just go out to sea.”

Mr McCormack said The Nationals’ Leader David Littleproud had secured the neutrality test in December 2018 to ensure that the 450Gl could not be taken if there were harmful effects to social and economic outcomes.

“As Nationals’ Deputy Leader and Shadow Water Minister Senator Perin Davey rightly says, buybacks hurt basin communities and have flow-on impacts that will cost every Australian in the long run and this must be avoided at all costs,” Mr McCormack added.

Senator Davey has agreed to the extensions, but not the buybacks.

“As she said, allowing States the time to finish projects should negate the need for buybacks.”

Independent Member for Murray, Helen Dalton has called on the NSW government to rule out any water buybacks by the Commonwealth government and back her Water Transfer Amendment Bill to stop federal buybacks.

Ms Dalton said 86 per cent of all recovered water had already come from the Southern Basin.

• Topics:

• Agriculture & Farming
• Water
• Politics