Moira Shire Council opposes water buybacks
Published on 06 October 2023
As the Federal Government makes plans to instate the Water Amendment Bill 2023, Moira Shire Council will be advocating to the country’s political leaders to withdraw the proposed bill that will see water buybacks create devastating impacts on regional communities.
Moira Shire Council and the members of the Murray River Group of Councils invite the Senate crossbenchers, David Pocock, Lidia Thorpe, Jacquie Lambie and David Van to visit the regions along the Murray River and see firsthand the importance of water for agricultural and manufacturing industries and the many other industries that rely on access to water.
The recently announced Australian Government decision will be voted on in Parliament on Wednesday 8 November and intends to proceed with water buybacks to meet the environmental targets of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.
The Victorian State Government, continuing to support the northern regions, has already declined to sign the agreement put forward by Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek as the decision will severely affect Victoria’s future economic situation.
“We saw the damage caused through loss of production and job losses that resulted from the buybacks approximately 15 years ago. We do not want to see a repeat of those times and their devastating impacts,” Moira Shire Council Chair Administrator John Tanner AM said.
Moira Shire Council’s Administrators understand the current water management plans are a priority for the community and will advocate to ensure a revised plan is investigated to include fair treatment of water accessibility for users and the environment.
Administrator Suzanna Sheed said the water buybacks were targeted to Victoria because of the high reliability of water supply despite the issues in the Northern basin.
“Most of the environmental issues of recent years have been in the Darling River system, which has suffered the impacts of water shortages through floodplain harvesting and lack of metering that is unsustainable,” Ms Sheed said.
The state has been compliant with the current Murray Darling Basin Plan, providing more than 1800 GL in the southern basin for environmental targets where the northern basin has only recovered 300 GL.
Administrator Graeme Emonson said it was incredibly disappointing in the Federal Government for moving to water buybacks once more.
“There are so many other water recovery methods that could still be used to achieve the environmental outcomes. Victoria has a strong track record of successfully developing and working on significant environmental projects,” Mr Emonson said.
Moira Shire Council has submitted an official response to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications regarding the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023 asking the Senate to consider our community’s unique position in contributing to the implementation of the Basin Plan.
The reintroduction of water buybacks will increase water prices, threaten the supply of water in the lead up to a dry season, reduce production and therefore the food supply and continue to put further cost of living pressure on Australians.
Help Moira Shire Council and the Murray River Group of Council’s protect the nation’s foodbowl and support regional communities and Aussie farmers, sign the online petition at mrgc.com.au/pushbackbuybacks