Sharman Stone MP

 

Apparently the Murray Darling Basin Authority will release the report on Friday 8^th of October and the first consultation meeting will be on Tuesday the 12^th of October at the Goulburn Valley Hotel at 9am.

 

Dr Sharman Stone, Federal Member for Murray, met with the new Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Tony Burke last week and made sure he was aware of the additional factors that made further claw back of water in our region a serious problem.

 

“We have two pipelines pulling water out of the Murray Darling Basin in our area each year, to supply Melbourne, Geelong, Bendigo, Ballarat, Castlemaine, Kyneton and so on, and we have already seen a significant proportion of local irrigation water sold permanently to the environment or downstream,” Sharman Stone said.

 

The Murray Darling Basin Authority say the Basin Plan Guide, now two months behind schedule, will

“It is expected that the plan could claw back up to 30 percent from irrigators. Following on 7 years of recent drought and the Labor Government’s disastrous untargeted water-buy back policies, many water users are simply holding their breath to see if the rumours are true.

 

“I am heartened by Minister Burke’s understanding of the need to also focus on the socio-economic impacts of taking any more water off farmers. This includes not destroying the livelihood of our communities and the food security of Australia with much more on farm water use efficiency support.”

 

Sharman Stone encouraged as many people as possible go to the information sessions to provide the authority with immediate feedback.

 

The Community Information Sessions will be held on;

 

·         9am-12pm, Tuesday 12 October at the Goulburn Valley Hotel, 223 High Street, Shepparton

·         2pm-5pm, Tuesday 12 October at the Goulburn Valley Hotel, 223 High Street, Shepparton

·         3pm-6pm, Monday 8 November, Echuca-Moama Bowling, 6 Shaw Street, Moama

 

“I encourage all those wishing to view the guide, to check the website www.mdba.gov.au on the 8^th of October and reply for the Community Information Sessions as soon as possible,” Sharman Stone said.