IRRIGATORS and farmers have been pleased to hear the announcement from the federal government that it will reinstate funding for key water engineering projects along the Murray River despite federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s plan to complete the controversial Murray-Darling Basin Plan and buy back water from farmers to improve the environmental health of the basin.
The announcement of funding for Victoria’s Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism projects was made on Thursday without a commitment for the Victorian Government to get on board with buybacks and was met with relief.
Victorian Farmers Federation president Emma Germano commended Victorian Minister for Water Harriet Shing for “standing up for Victorian farmers and regional communities and not being bullied to support water buybacks”.
“For over six months, the Commonwealth had been blackmailing Victoria and threatening to not fund key projects if Victoria remained opposed to water buybacks,” Ms Germano said.
“It’s good to see that even though Victoria remains opposed to water buybacks, these important projects can now be started.”
However, irrigators, farmers and the Victorian Government still remain opposed to the federal government’s water buyback plan.
“Despite Victoria having done all the heavy lifting to deliver basin plan outcomes, we are still faced with the Commonwealth Government hell-bent on taking more water from food and fibre production, which is a key economic driver for our state.” Ms Germano added.
“Buying up water that’s used to produce food will ultimately kill rural towns and it’s about time the Commonwealth came clean on which towns they are going to close down if they enter the water market.
“Water is the lifeblood of our towns up here and we will continue to fight for the farmers and rural communities of northern Victoria.”
Environment Victoria’s rivers and nature campaign manager Greg Foyster told The Guardian they were sceptical of the decision to unfreeze funding for engineering projects like SDLAM and the Victorian Murray Floodplain Project.
Mr Foyster said the Victorian Government wanted to re-engineer wetlands to survive with less water. which would ultimately provide them with an excuse to deliver water to the other parts of the system and scale back progress boosting the health of the basin.
“These projects are not the equivalent of returning water to the environment,” Mr Foyster said.
“They should be the last resort and not the main way of fixing the problem.
“We think that water should be recovered for the environment and we should make sure that it flows more naturally across floodplains and wetlands so it can get to the species that need it.
“They are floodplains so that means they are supposed to be inundated with water at particular times.”
Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster called the decision an “embarrassing backdown” for Plibersek.
“Amid today’s mystery on what deal the two governments have done, clearly Minister Plibersek came to Victoria to salvage her floundering Labor-Greens basin plan that ripped up a previously bipartisan approach to basin management,” Dr Webster said.
In collaboration with the Green last year Ms Plibersek made the deal to complete the basin plan by 2027.
Plibersek expects Victoria to support the water buybacks after the announcement turn funding to water engineering projects.
“This commitment unlocks for Victoria the full range of water recovery options already available to other basin states,” Ms Plibersek said.
The $13 billion basin plan was created in 2012 by the Gillard government after the Murray-Darling Basin was found to be at risk due to excessive extractions for irrigation.
