Shadow Minister for Water the Hon Michael McCormack MP has visited the Nicholls electorate to hear directly from dairy farmers, orchardists, irrigation leaders and Greater Shepparton City Council about the damage Labor’s water buybacks are doing to farming communities and the regional economy.
The visit was hosted by Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell MP and included a driving tour of the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District, meetings with dairy farmers at Loxleigh Jerseys in Tallygaroopna and orchardists at McNab Orchards in Ardmona, as well as discussions with the Goulburn Broken Catchment Management Authority and the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District Water Leadership Forum.
The Goulburn Murray Irrigation District is one of the largest irrigation networks in Australia, supplying water to a region that produces a significant share of Australia’s dairy, fruit and vegetable output. The Murray-Darling Basin as a whole produces 40% of Australia’s food and 60% of Australia’s fruit.
The Coalition has outlined a clear set of principles to guide its approach to water policy in the Murray-Darling Basin: ending further reductions to the amount of water available for farming and productive use, targeting an increase in the consumptive pool for farmers, towns and businesses, and reforming the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder to return surplus water to the temporary consumptive pool to lower prices.
“Labor’s removal of the buyback cap and pursuit of an additional 450 gigalitres of water has undermined the protections that were put in place to safeguard agricultural production and regional communities,” Mr McCormack said.
“Our water priorities focus on protecting jobs in regional communities and keeping families on their farms, rather than pursuing policies that strip water out of productive agriculture.”
Mr McCormack said visiting Nicholls reinforced what was at stake for Basin communities as Labor continued its buyback programme.
“You cannot understand what these decisions mean until you come here, talk to the farmers and see the irrigation infrastructure with your own eyes. This is not an abstract policy debate. It impacts people’s livelihoods and the future of one of Australia’s most productive agricultural regions,” he said.
Shadow Assistant Minister for Agriculture Sam Birrell said the regions farmers and growers need water certainty to continue providing high quality food and fibre to Australians and export markets.
“The moment water becomes uncertain or unaffordable for the farmers, production starts to leave and it does not come back,” he said.
“Our regions need to grow to balance population in Australia, not shrinking because of bad policy. ”
The visit also included a meeting with Greater Shepparton City Council, where the Mayor, Chief Executive Officer and councillors discussed the importance of irrigation to the region’s economic base and the pressures Labor’s policies were placing on the community.
Mr Birrell said every conversation throughout the day had returned to the same point.
“Whether we were talking to dairy farmers, orchardists, water managers or local government, the message was consistent: we need a federal government that will halt the buybacks, grow the consumptive pool and invest in the water infrastructure this region depends on,” he said.
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