Key Voices in the Murray-Darling Region
Politicians
The Rural Affairs and Transport References Committee of the Parliament of Australia Senate are currently inquiring into The management of the Murray-Darling Basin.
The committee is chaired by Senator Bill Heffernan and includes Australian Greens Senator Bob Brown and Leader for Nationals in the Senate Senator Barnaby Joyce.
Simon Crean (Regional Minister, Labor Party) – has conceded large cuts to water allocations, accepted in the Murray-Darling Basin Authority report, would have social consequences for some towns. He has also called for
greater input from local communities to find ways to beat sharp water cuts foreshadowed by the Murray-Darling rescue plan.
Tony Burke (Water Minister, Labor Party) – has stated “None of this adjustment is easy. We are talking about a situation where up and down the Murray-Darling Basin there has been over-allocation and we need to be able to adjust to have a long-term healthy river. We need to be able to do that in a way that pays respect to the importance of environmental flows, to the importance of food production, and to the importance of the future of regional communities. None of it is easy and that is why the levels of consultation go along for period of time that they do.”
Barnaby Joyce (Shadow Minister for Regional Development, Local Government and Water, Liberal Party) - is currently meeting with key regions that have been identified as those to experience the greatest economic impact and strongly urges that those in the community voice their concerns at the MDBA convened community meetings to be held across the region within the coming months.
Vocal Federal MP’s within Murray-Darling basin region
NSW
Tony Windsor (Federal Member for New England, Independent) – says he is concerned that irrigators who have already accepted cuts in their water licences will be penalised by further reductions proposed by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority. While recognising that there was the need to deal with over-allocation of water licences in some regions, he said he was concerned then – and now – that the Water Act did not take enough account of the socioeconomic impact on communities. "There's a lot of people who have done the right thing by the environment 10 to 15 years ago and are now going to be hit again," he told The Australian Financial Review.
Sussan Ley (Federal Member for Farrer, Liberal Party) – has described the water cutbacks proposed the Murray Darling Basin Association (MDBA) as “an act of sabotage on the communities in her electorate”. Repeating calls she made on national television this morning (08/10/10), Ms Ley challenged Water Minister, Tony Burke, to not “just wave these plans through leaving it all to the MDBA; but to step up, take control, show leadership and, most importantly, reassure rural Australia the Government understands the part they play in Australia’s prosperity."
Mark Coulton (Federal Member for Parkes, The Nationals) – has stated that water allocations needed to sustain Australia’s urban population boom should not be sourced from water used to grow Australia’s food
SA
Patrick Secker (Federal Member for Barker, Liberal Party) – Has requested for greater clarity from the Labor government in reference to the proposed changes to the Murray-Darling Basin as his electorate will be directly affected by any changes to water allocations
12/10/2010 - has stated that better implementation of the south-east drainage network could better sustain the Coorong's water levels rather than cutting allocations from irrigators. He says a $14 million bipartisan project from 2008 could be the key to managing the Coorong's preservation and Murray water use. "When it comes to the Coorong, we put a program in place called the Reflows program which was going to take water from the south-east drain into the Coorong and freshen it up, so that's a program, the infrastructure's already been put in, so that's certainly going to help in the short, medium and long-term," he said.
VIC
Peter Crisp (State Member for Mildura District, The Nationals) – believes that the Murray-Darling Basin plan will have a direct impact on the future of industries, businesses and communities that owe their livelihoods to the the Murray River. Has actively brought awareness to the issues surrounding the Murray-Darling Basin in his community
John Forrest (Federal Member for Mallee, The Nationals) – one of his main ambitions in this term of parliament is a fair deal for irrigators under Basin Plan sustainable diversion limits
The Hon. Dr Sharman Stone (Federal Member for Murray, Liberal Party) – Key figure who is responsible for raising awareness of the impact irrigation makes on the environment in the Murray-Darling region
QLD
The Hon. Bruce Scott (Federal Member for Maranoa, Liberal National Party) – Highlights the need for food security which is reliant upon water allocation
Interest Groups
National Farmers Federation - “DESPITE the ‘softening up’ of yesterday’s leaks, today’s numbers are worse than anyone expected and the Federal Government must intervene to resurrect public confidence,” National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) President David Crombie declared following the release of the guide to the Basin Plan today (08/10/2010).“Around 93% of all food we consume in this country is grown here and 40% of all the food we produce as a nation comes from the Basin. Agricultural production and environmental needs are not mutually exclusive, they can and need to be balanced, but the MDBA has made no attempt to do so.
Victorian Farmers Federation – have lobbied for MDP meetings to be held in northern regions of Victoria and are holding 10 forums of their own once they have completed an analysis of the plan
12/10/10 - VFF president Andrew Broad said job losses would be in the thousands given the authority wanted to cut water use by 22-29 per cent.
National Irrigators Council – are concerned that the Murray-Darling Basin plan will focus too heavily on the environment to the detriment of all Australians however would like to see a balanced plan that invests in irrigation agriculture, which will see a greater return to the environment whilst ensuring farms in the area aren’t negatively impacted
NSW Farmers Association - Vice President Fiona Simson says there's been a severe lack of consultation from the Murray Darling Basin Authority with farmers in the region, and many farmers are worried they'll be forced to scale back their operations or quit the industry altogether
Scientists
Dr Blair Trewin (Senior Climatologist, BOM) - has made it clear that it is too early to state whether the decade long drought experienced by the Murray-Darling region is over
Wentworth Group of Concerned Scientists – published the report ‘Sustainable Diversions in the Murray-Darling Basin – An analysis of options for achieving a sustainable diversion limit in the Murray-Darling Basin’