Interim steps needed for Murray Darling Basin Plan
February 11, 2011
The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Regional Australia has called on Ministers Burke and Crean to take some interim steps to help achieve a balanced, win-win Murray Darling Basin Plan.
Dr Sharman Stone, Federal Member for Murray, and a member of the Committee said that they had received the same messages from the public hearings held across the southern Basin during December and January.
The Committee has asked Minister Burke and Minister Crean to urgently investigate three key issues immediately:
· The terrible impact of the so called ‘Swiss cheese’ effect of water buy-backs on irrigation districts, creating stranded assets, and that, with urgency, more strategic buy back arrangements be considered;
· the impact of the current taxation arrangements on irrigators, on grants for investments in water efficiency; and
· the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s preference for overbank flows to meet the water requirements for environmental icon sites rather than consultation with stakeholders to check out opportunities for engineering alternatives requiring less water for the same result.
All of the Committee agreed on the need to urgently address these issues before February next year.
“Irrigators at Shepparton and Echuca meetings of the Murray Darling Basin Authority were told over 35% of their irrigation water would be needed for the environment through water buybacks from so called ‘willing sellers’, Sharman Stone said.
“There has to be more region by region investigation and consideration of alternatives, than to just simply buy-back water from debt pressed people to find more environmental flows.
“The Murray Darling Basin Guide to the plan has now been largely discredited, the chairman has resigned and the new Minister Burke says it is not his report.
“It is now very important that the Minister makes some interim announcements to reassure the basin community that the new plan will take into account all social, economic and environmental considerations,” Sharman Stone said.
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