Murray Darling Basin
19-October-2010
Last Monday at Parliament House in Canberra, I asked the Water Minister, Tony Burke about the impact of devastating cuts to irrigation entitlements in North East Victoria as proposed in the Murray Darling Basin Plan. Mr Burke refused to answer my question.
I have also called on Mr Burke and Ms Gillard to attend the upcoming community consultation meeting in Albury. They refused.
The Murray Darling Basin Plan is one of the most significant pieces of change to face North East Victoria in the last decade. Water is the key driver of economic prosperity in our region – without our fair share, local farms and businesses would be devastated. Eventually we would see people leave our vibrant local towns in droves. So it is easy to understand why farmers burned copies of the plan outside so-called consultation meetings when it was revealed the Government seeks to rip up to 71% from irrigator’s water entitlements.
Unfortunately for farmers and people employed in businesses dependent on agricultural, the Government doesn’t want to hear about their concerns. Ms Gillard and Mr Burke have spent the last two weeks avoiding questions, shifting blame to public servants and refusing to turn up to community consultation meetings for fear of confrontation.
We want our towns and regions to thrive and survive. I’m sure our city cousins would share our concern about Australia’s food security. We want to continue to have the choice to buy Australian fruit, vegetables and meat.
When the Government said only a few weeks ago that they had re-discovered “regional Australia”, people believed them.
I also share local disappointment with the Greens. Not a single member of The Greens has had anything to say publicly about the Murray Darling Basin Plan. Why are they silent on water policy? Could it be that their policy could even be worse than Labor’s?
If the Labor party really do care about regional Australia, they will send the Murray Darling Basin Plan to the productivity commission for an immediate analysis of the social and economic impacts of the proposed water cuts and make drastic amendments.
We all want to ensure the health of the Murray Darling Basin, that’s why the Howard Government began this process, but we must do it in a way that ensures the ongoing prosperity of country Australia and the agricultural industry.