Plibersek’s irrigation asset stripping begins: 70GL tender to open July 15

The Albanese Government will wade into southern Murray Darling Basin water markets on July 15 to buy 70 gigalitres.

Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek will launch a tender on July 15 to buy 70GL off southern Murray Darling Basin irrigators.

The Albanese Labor Government will roll out its second round of water purchases on July 15, in a bid to strip another 70 gigalitres out of Southern Murray Darling Basin irrigation communities.

The Weekly Times has previously reported federal budget documents showed Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek and her bureaucrats had $613m on hand to recover up to 100GL in 2024-25.

The tender forms part of the Albanese Government’s commitment to deliver another 450 gigalitres of water to the environment, on top of the 2129GL already recovered.

National Irrigators Council chair Jeremy Morton said it was a “bloody disgrace” that the government had gone for the most damaging means of recovering most of that water via buybacks, when the community and irrigation infrastructure operators had put forward so many alternatives.

“We know this will have the most negative impact on irrigators,” Mr Morton said.

A recent ABARES study identified federal purchases would hit the NSW Riverina and South Australian Riverland hardest, given they are the most water-dependent economies in the Basin, with little in the way of alternative industries or employment.

Minister Plibersek did sign a declaration under Section 86ADB of the Water Act 2007 stating she has considered the socio-economic impacts of the 70GL tender.

But the Minister failed to publish any details on how she came to this conclusion, simply announcing the government would invest $300 million to create local jobs to offset the impacts of purchases.

The tender is also set to have major market impacts, given H2OX analysis shows irrigators traded just 48.7GL of cap equivalent entitlement in 2023-24 across the entire Southern Basin,

well below the 70GL the Commonwealth is seeking.

Irrigators warn the government will have to spent well in excess of $10,000 a megalitre to get 70GL – about $700 million.

Ms Plibersek said the government would be “soon opening tenders for the voluntary purchase”, supported by a recently released water trading strategy.

But the 7-page strategy gives no detail on how much of the 70GL will be sought from each southern basin catchment.

It does state the government will not buy water from entitlement holders within irrigation infrastructure operators, such as NSW’s Murray Irrigation, Murrumbidgee Irrigation or South Australia’s Renmark and Central Irrigations Trusts, focusing instead on private diverters.

In Victoria the strategy document states irrigators on the Goulburn, Broken and Loddon will be excluded from the tender, yet leaves the gate open for those within Lower Murray Water’s pump irrigation districts irrigators to sell their entitlements to the Commonwealth.

Victorian Farmers Federation water council chair Andrew Leahy said “the Commonwealth promised they would stay out of irrigation districts; they lived up to that promise for NSW and SA but have broken it with Victoria”.

“Victoria is the only state that will see water purchases in an irrigation network, the purchases in NSW and SA are from diverters only.

“Why does the Commonwealth want to keep punishing Victoria when we have contributed the most towards the Basin Plan? How much pain do they think we can take?”
Unlike the previous Bridging the Gap purchase of 41GL of surface water Ms Plibersek said the 70GL round would provide “transparent, clear information on how progress towards the 450 gigalitre target is tracking – helping to restore trust in this country’s water management”.