Wednesday, 18 October 2023

 Tim McCURDY (Ovens Valley) (09:39): I want to highlight to the communities right across northern Victoria the risk that is before us regarding water buybacks. The Albanese Labor government is risking people’s livelihoods and the viability of our regional communities. Minister Plibersek needs to join me for a tour of irrigation communities in the southern basin to hear firsthand what is at stake. Every 100 gigalitres that is stripped out of the southern basin will cost 500 jobs – jobs that we cannot afford to lose.

We know that Mother Nature is not always as consistent as we would like, and that is why we build dams. We have built them in the past, and I still believe that the Big Buffalo dam could assist with flood mitigation for better environmental outcomes. Every megalitre that leaves our farming communities will be another nail in the coffin of small regional towns. Of course we all want what is best for the environment, but we can coexist and we can have our cake and eat it too. Make no mistake: buybacks will kill communities. What is the rush? When we can all work together for water savings, we can all be winners. In low rainfall years irrigators in northern Victoria will not have enough water to irrigate permanent plantings. Peaches, nectarines, apricots and almonds will not survive consecutive dry years. I urge the Albanese government to meet with me and southern basin irrigators and communities to fully understand the damage that will be done if they continue to be bloody-minded. We can work together in harmony with farmers, the environment and the government, if they will only try.