Murray River Group of Councils call for Basin Plan buybacks to be scrapped

Six Murray River shire councils have urged the federal government to rethink their planned Basin Plan buybacks.

The six northern Victorian councils behind the Murray River Group of Councils have launched a campaign to stop the federal government from reinstating water buybacks as part of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.

The #PushbackBuybacks campaign, led by the Gannawarra, Swan Hill, Campaspe, Moira, Mildura and Loddon shire councils, has called for the Water Amendment (Restoring Our Rivers) Bill 2023 to be scrapped to protect farmers and Murray River communities.

MRGC chair Rob Amos said the Bill proposed changes to the Murray Darling Basin Plan that would hurt agricultural production in Northern Victoria.

“Last time, they caused the loss of 1600 jobs, the closure of a milk factory and increased farming risk across our region,” Mr Amos said.

“Extensive research and our collective experience tell us that water buybacks have dire

socio-economic consequences.”

Campaspe Shire Council mayor and Murray River Group of Councils chair Rob Amos.

The MRGC said previous buybacks have directly increased water market prices on average by $72 a megalitre, according to ABARES estimates.

They also said previous buybacks have caused $500 million of lost productivity across the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District, with 50 per cent less water used in the GMID in recent years.

“If the Bill goes through, there will be more pressure on the weekly shopping bill of

Australian families,” Mr Amos said.

“The domino effect of reduced water and rising input costs are less dairy and meat

production, and less availability of fresh fruit and vegetables.

“This, in turn, drives up the price of fresh produce and packaged food products at the checkout.”

Environment and water minister Tanya Plibersek. Picture: Martin Ollman

The MRGC said their pleas for the federal government to consider the triple-bottom-line of social, economic and environmental impacts have not been considered.

They also said they supported the environmental outcomes of the basin plan, citing water-saving and efficiency projects underway at Hattah Lakes and Gunbower Forest as part of the Victorian Murray Floodplain Restoration Project as examples of how to deliver 450 gigalitres of water back to the environment.

Earlier this year Water Minister Tanya Plibersek brokered a deal with the Queensland, NSW, South Australia and ACT governments to allow Commonwealth buybacks of irrigation licenses to boost environment flows and extend infrastructure project deadlines.

The Victorian government has refused to support buybacks.

Meanwhile Australian Dairy Farmers president Rick Gladigau said dairy farms in the Murray River districts feel “ignored and fed up”.

“The health of the Murray-Darling Basin is critical to those of us in the dairy industry, given one-fifth of the nation’s milk supply is produced in the basin. But it’s also an issue for anyone who farms in the Murray-Darling Basin,” he said in a statement.

“The Bill extends the timeline for delivery of the MDB Plan to 2027, which we’ve welcomed. “But by permitting buybacks as a way to achieve its environmental aims and watering down the socio-economic testing, it becomes the “bad bill” so many of us are angry about right now.

“So, what’s the answer here? Amend the water Bill proposed by the federal government, which in its current form is bad for basin communities, bad for regional jobs and bad for people who eat food. Drop the use of buybacks and bring back the socio-economic test.”