Residents are being urged to have their say on the Murray Darling Basin Plan or risk being ignored.
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The Australian Government Productivity Commission’s review into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan is coming to Deniliquin this Thursday to hear the community’s feedback on the Plan.
Lobby groups, farmers and Member for Murray Helen Dalton are all encouraging residents to have their say, pleading for them to “turn up in numbers to be heard”.
“I am urging you to get to one of these meetings, because this (the Plan) is going ahead like a massive train wreck,” Speak Up Campaign chair Shelly Scoullar said.
“This fight is up to all of us, not just farmers.
“It's rural businesses and supply chain, value adding, everyone.”
The Productivity Commission is required to undertake an inquiry every five years into the effectiveness of the implementation of the Basin Plan and water resource plans.
The public forums - to be held in Echuca tomorrow at Quest at 1.30pm, and in Deniliquin on Thursday at 1pm at the RSL Club - give the community a chance to share their views and how the plan might be improved.
The Federal Government has acknowledged criticism for the lack of notice for these meetings, saying the information provided at these sessions will be available on the department’s website for those who cannot attend.
“This impacts not just farmers,” Mrs Scoullar said.
“It is about rural jobs, it is about rural communities. I am imploring you to please get to one of those meetings.”
Mrs Dalton said the community cannot endure a Federal Government that is willing to destroy rural NSW for political reasons.
“The feds are pushing their plan to rip (another) 450 gigalitres of water from irrigation communities (through new buybacks), supposedly to help the environment,” she told NSW Parliament last week.
“Removing another 450 gigalitres of water is akin to saying to Sydneysiders, ‘we want to take all the water from Sydney Harbour’.
“But unlike Sydneysiders, we don’t just look at our water and sail on it occasionally.
“We use our water in the regions to feed the nation and keep our communities alive.”
Water buybacks were limited in 2015 by the former Coalition government due to increasing concern about their impact on agricultural communities.
Reinstating buybacks has raised significant concerns for farmers and rural people, with some reports suggesting they will have devastating impacts on rural communities, such as Deniliquin.
“When water is taken away, farms shut down and towns die,” Mrs Dalton said.
“Take a look at Wakool, where buybacks put a wrecking ball through the community.”
Mrs Dalton has called on a moratorium on buybacks in NSW, saying the state needs to follow Victoria’s lead and stop the federal government from ‘stealing water’.
According to Mrs Scoullar, the Productivity Commission’s review is limited by its terms of reference.
“They’re leaving out the fundamentals and anything to do with volumes,” she said.
“What has been left out is anything to do with compliance, water trading and anything that’s been covered by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission.
“I’m urging you to get to one of these meetings.”
Deniliquin business owner Rob Brown said water buybacks have an impact on population growth in rural communities, agreeing water is not just a farming issue.
“With massive water buybacks pending, we urgently need to develop shared direction and optimism if we are to prosper and encourage people to want to move here and invest here,” he said.
Edward River Council data confirms our population is in decline.
And Mrs Dalton highlighted that if water is taken away, so is funding.
“Government bureaucrats cut funding for the schools and hospitals, the footy and netball clubs collapse and the last bank leaves town.”
Further meetings have been planned in Griffith and Hay for later in the month, with venues to be advised.
For more information and to register for one of the meetings, go to https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/current/basin-plan-2023#issues.
Journalist