Wednesday, 30 August 2023

Water policy

Rikkie-Lee TYRRELL (Northern Victoria) (09:50): I rise today to congratulate the Minister for Water on standing with our brilliant Victorian farmers and refusing to sign up to the latest version of the disastrous Murray–Darling Basin plan. Buybacks have been detrimental to our farming communities in the past. The complexities of this issue are not black and white; however, it is clear to me that the decommodification of water as an attractive investment option for speculators would largely see the problems disappear overnight. While the requirement for environmental water is paramount for the ecological sustainability of the river systems, the purpose of this water is to artificially flood the wetlands and replicate, as best as possible, the natural seasonal flow.

During my own water tour of our section of the Murray–Darling Basin earlier this year, it was identified by numerous native wetland specialists that they already have sufficient environmental water to serve their purpose. Noting that 39 per cent of all domestic produce in this country is grown in the basin and 3.5 per cent of all Australians are directly employed within the basin, we have a responsibility to ensure current and future generations have access to critical food supplies that are sustained by this irrigation water. Again I applaud the minister for following my footsteps across the state and engaging with real stakeholders before standing up to her federal counterparts and refusing to capitulate on this outrageous proposal.