VICTORIA should be at the negotiating table, working together to bring home a basin plan that delivers a fair and sustainable water future for all of us.
This short-sighted and binary approach will see our region miss out on literally millions of dollars in investment from the Federal Government, as we turn our back on a co-operative approach to managing this rich and complex natural system.
Here was an opportunity to take the politics out of this important work (with Labor governments in all basin jurisdictions), use the collective experience of the past 10 years of water reform, making up lost ground and building integrity into the system through collaboration.
Being part of the team would mean Victoria could hold the other states to account and ensure we are all contributing our fair share to this reform.
We need consistent and standardised metering, ensuring that all water users are paying for water used.
We need water use to remain inside the cap that was agreed to leading into the basin plan. We need to prioritise removing constraints and rules around how we use environmental water, so we get the maximum benefit for the water we have recovered – getting the water out of the dams, creating air space for more water to be captured.
These projects would create jobs and provide greater flood protection.
Our region, and others around the basin have been undergoing huge adjustment in the irrigated agriculture sector with the establishment of the water market.
There is no money offered for communities to deal with this. The new deal offered by Tanya Plibersek (Water Minister) offers more money for communities to adjust, which done well, could be used to secure new programs and assets in our community.
The recovered water will be so, so important for a future with less water through climate change – a public asset for everyone securing water quality, good fishing, swimmable rivers and nature for future generations.
If we are really concerned about the price of water, we could regulate the amount of new irrigation development that continues to push up the price of water and creates ongoing challenges for water deliveries.
Get on board, Victoria. Future generations will thank us if we do.
