Thursday, 20 June 2024

Water policy

Wendy LOVELL (Northern Victoria) (18:54): (982) My adjournment matter is for the Minister for Water, and the action I seek is for the minister to make public her plan to prevent the federal government from removing any more water from Victoria via water buybacks and indicate whether that plan includes limiting or stopping the constraints relaxation policy.

Northern Victoria is the food bowl of Australia, generating over $3 billion worth of farm gate produce every year and employing 3500 people. The Goulburn–Murray irrigation district produces 75 per cent of Australia’s pears, 50 per cent of Australia’s stone fruit and 21 per cent of Australia’s milk. In Northern Victoria our food, fibre and dairy industries rely heavily on irrigation water from the Murray and Goulburn rivers. The state government in Victoria has said it opposes the Commonwealth purchasing water entitlements, but its latest draft water plan makes clear that its plan is to facilitate Commonwealth water buybacks by actively identifying irrigation areas with a view to closing them down. Labor’s water prospectus Planning our Basin Future Together makes several positive references to the fact that they completely closed down the Campaspe irrigation district, and my constituents are worried that Labor have planned the same thing in the Goulburn–Murray irrigation district. The government’s Engage website identifies water recovery opportunities in the Goulburn–‍Murray and talks about the rationalisation of irrigation infrastructure that enables local transition. These words sound fancy, but make no mistake, ‘transition’ is code for closing down irrigation channels, closing down farms and threatening the future of horticulture in the area.

Water deliveries to the Goulburn–Murray irrigation district have already dropped from a high of 2100 gigalitres in 2001–02 to 730 gigalitres in 2023–24. The chair of Goulburn–Murray Water warned in 2016 that if water deliveries dropped below 700 gigalitres that would be a tipping point for the viability for our irrigation communities. It is troubling then that the Victorian government’s water prospectus envisions in one of its future projections that a further 108 gigalitres will be taken for environmental use, which would affect 25 per cent of the irrigation district and over 3500 farmers. Removing this amount of water from the consumptive pool would take the water volume below the predicted tipping point that the government has been warned about. Taking that much water could end irrigation in the area and devastate farming communities, and this minister seems to have no plan for stopping that from happening.

Due to natural and built constraints there are limits to how much water can be delivered to the environment without inundating private property. There is no point in buying back water for the environment if that water cannot actually be delivered. This government, however, has a constraints relaxation policy that will remove constraints and lead to flooding properties adjacent to the river.