MURRAY DARLING BASIN COMMITTEE MUST ACKNOWLEDGE NORTH EAST CASE
03-March-2011
Sophie Mirabella MP, Federal Member for Indi has fronted a public hearing in Canberra to once again push the case for North East farmers who stand to lose up to 79% of their irrigation entitlement.
Mrs Mirabella reiterated the concerns raised in her submission which called for the Government to consider the efficiency of irrigation in the North East and the scrapping of cuts to irrigation entitlements in the Indi electorate, noting “Indi is not the source of the problem, we are the source of the water.”
Mrs Mirabella emphasised the benefits of using water closest to its source and urged the committee to focus on ensuring that agricultural production is encouraged where it is grown most efficiently. She also pointed to the average value of production in the North East, citing figures from the Guide to the Draft Plan that indicate the average gross value of irrigated agricultural production in the Ovens system is $7,025, compared to a Basin wide average of just $3,295.
Speaking after the hearing, Mrs Mirabella said “it is absolutely vital that our case be heard, and I am doing everything I can to ensure that the Government is listening.
“We cannot afford for the plan to go ahead in its current format, it will leave an agricultural graveyard in the North East. The figures in the plan clearly indicate that any cut to irrigation will have a more severe impact in the North East than in most other parts of the Basin.”
Mrs Mirabella has written to the new Chairman of the Murray Darling Basin Authority requesting a meeting with local stakeholders. She is yet to receive a response.