Sharman Stone MP

Why does the MDBA want to kill food production, and the jobs that go with it?

November 30, 2011

The Murray Darling Basin Authority’s latest draft environmental plan, released today, shows that they still do not understand what is needed for a sustainable environment without killing local water dependent economies.

Dr Sharman Stone, Federal Member for Murray, said today, “What other country in the world would continue to take water from food production in this era of mounting global food shortages, while they continue to mismanage the huge volumes of environmental water already taken out of agriculture, while there is no environmental water management plan, and while they simply play games with how much water has already been taken, and what they want to get to placate the metropolitan based Greens.

“If you trace every Gigalitre already purchased or re-allocated to environmental flow in the Murray Darling Basin since we began this process in the late 1980s, you can account for more than 5000 Gigalitres in the bucket,” Sharman Stone said.

“However, this new plan only accounts for the last few years of claw back and continues to fail to focus on the improved environmental works and measures that are essential if every drop of environmental water is to get where it may do the greatest good.

“It is also distressing to see that the Plan expects Victoria to lose more food producing water compared to any other state, despite the water use efficiencies made over the last 40 years, and the biggest environmental water contribution already made.

“Unfortunately, Northern Victoria is to make the greatest job loss sacrifice and see its food production contract the most because our irrigation water supply has been built to be the most secure in the Basin.

“If you buy a megalitre in Victoria you actually get a megalitre in your bucket. It is this water security that has developed and sustained out food manufacturing based economy. Most of our small towns and all of our regional cities in the Goulburn and Murray Valleys have food factories, employing directly and indirectly tens of thousands of people. Without the water security we cannot grow the food every year, and these jobs go. It has been calculated that for every 100 mgs taken out of food production, we lose one job,” Sharman said.

“The Plan continues to be totally unrealistic, besides lacking equity. Campaspe Irrigation District, now converted to Stock and Domestic supply only, is still expected to have 18 GL squeezed from them. So whose livestock is to go without a drink?

“Likewise, the Loddon system, which had zero allocations during the drought is supposed to contribute 10 GL. The Victorian Murray System has to find 253 GL and the Goulburn System 344 GL, despite the huge volumes already enticed out of production through the environmental tenders,” said Sharman Stone.

“Minister Tony Burke does now acknowledge that there will be serious economic impacts with these reductions. His solution however, as recommended by the MDBA, is that this pain and devastation will be made less by a thousand cuts, rather than one big hit. The claw back is to occur over seven years. This is no consolation.

“We have 4 months to comment on the plan. The MDBA must do some close listening and come up with a genuine triple bottom line approach,” Sharman Stone said.