Murray-Darling Basin farmers and their communities rallied in Canberra today to say enough is enough with bad-faith Government policies putting family farms out of business and hollowing out small towns.
NSW Irrigators’ Council members and water users joined the rally to oppose the Government’s unnecessary water buybacks, adding weight to the growing outcry from farming communities across the nation and different sectors demanding an end to anti-farming, anti-regional policies.
“With water diversions now 23 per cent below the Basin Plan’s sustainable diversion limits, overuse is no longer the problem,” said NSWIC CEO Claire Miller.
“The problem is Government inaction on the degradation drivers still making our rivers sick, such as the invasive European carp clogging rivers and lakes. Buying even more water from farmers only means more water for carp to keep breeding up in, hastening the decline of native fish as well as our small towns.
“We have had a gutful of our communities and our rivers being thrown under the bus by Government policies based on outdated science and modelling, for no other purpose than shoring up city votes.”
Ms Miller said the Government had ignored the overwhelming feedback from Murray-Darling Basin communities opposing water buybacks in favour of more effective action to improve river health.
“When every Basin council opposed buybacks during last year’s consultation period, and thousands of angry farmers take time out of their busy schedules today to converge on Canberra in protest, how can the Government claim it has regional Australia’s best interest interests in mind?” Ms Miller said.
“NSWIC’s position is that any water recovery for the environment must not have social or economic impacts on the communities that depend on water for their livelihoods. ABARES has already warned the Government that buybacks will drive up production costs, particularly for rice and dairy.
“With costs rising across the board and many operations struggling to make ends meet, this could be the straw that breaks the camel’s back for many small to medium family farms.”
Ms Miller also warned of the clear risk to food inflation, highlighting that making it more expensive for farmers to grow food will inevitably increase the costs for Australians at the checkout.
“Economics 101 says higher inputs means higher outputs. Water grows food, and if water becomes more expensive, the cost of growing food goes up. We know the supermarkets aren’t going to absorb that cost, so it lands squarely with the consumer.
“There are a number of complementary measures that could be acted upon right now that would significantly benefit river health. Carp control, infrastructure upgrades and managing constraints would be a step in the right direction, not reckless and arbitrary water recovery that will make matter worse.”
