Water is our lifeblood in this district, but Labor is sucking us dry to buy supposed ‘greenie’ votes in the inner cities. The Albanese Labor Government’s 450 gigalitre (GL) Murray-Darling Basin water buyback program at an estimated cost over $3 billion presses on without any supporting evidence.  Our local economy and food security are on the chopping block purely to appease inner city voters concerned about the environment.

The Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder now holds 2,940GL of water entitlements - more water than it can use for the environment, carrying over more than 30 per cent of its allocation each year and over 50 per cent in a recent reporting year.  

Water authorities such as the Goulburn Murray Catchment Management Authority also have more water than they can deal with, with the GM CMA saying they've got enough water until they resolve constraints (eg levees and impacts on farms on floodplains) and other management issues.  

Worse still, two research reports on South Australia’s freshwater Lower Lakes (the environmental catalyst for the Basin Plan) showed falling bird numbers and an explosion of carp. I can confirm, Labor’s ‘just add water’ approach is a failure.

A recent Basin Authority report also shows that consumptive water use across the Basin is well below allowed levels, proving the falsehood behind the Albanese Government’s $14 million advertising campaign claim of “… water being overused”.

Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek recently boasted that 1,000 irrigators have expressed interest in selling water to the buyback program – just like she did during the previous water buyback which never came to fruition. In October 2023 the Minister declared 250 tender responses could net twice as much as the 44GL sought back then. However, only 26GL was ultimately purchased.  Labor’s previous buybacks show that most tender offers do not result in water being bought.

We already have a healthy water market keeping water in the consumptive pool and in our irrigation systems, supporting local economies, and growing food for the nation.

A Coalition Government will return the Murray-Darling Basin to a water management plan, not a water recovery plan.