Federal Labor Water Minister Tanya Plibersek needs to stop ignoring Murray Darling Basin irrigation communities and State governments in her ruthless push to pursue water buybacks, despite their known impact on farm sustainability, Member for Mallee Anne Webster says.

“The Minister is prepared to disregard farmers whose livelihoods depend on irrigation, as well as State Labor Governments in New South Wales and Victoria, in a bid to deliver 450 gigalitres of environmental water,” Dr Webster said.

Worse still, reducing fruit and vegetable production through buybacks will hurt families at the supermarket checkout. This demonstrates yet again Labor is focused on political pet topics rather than the cost of living crisis. Past buybacks left irrigation districts as a patchwork of properties of those with water and without water, abundant and arid. People and towns in the Basin that rely on water being delivered to our highly valuable horticulture industry will miss out.”

The former Coalition Government implemented an economic neutrality test first developed by former Labor Federal Water Minister Tony Burke to ensure that no buybacks could occur if they had negative social or economic consequences.

Minister Plibersek has indicated environmental priorities will now outweigh that socioeconomic neutrality test, with a 30 June 2024 Basin Plan water recovery deadline looming. Both the Labor NSW and Victorian governments have stated their opposition to buybacks to achieve water recovery.

“In Mallee alone the Mildura-Swan Hill region is expected to have a Gross Value of Production in horticulture of $2.2 billion per annum by 2029-30 – buybacks will seriously compromise that.”

Dr Webster said the Federal Labor Government needed to work with the States, as the former Coalition Government had done, to deliver the plan without compromising communities sustainability along the Basin.

“The Minister has had 16 months in Government to work cooperatively with the States to agree to extensions of time to complete planned Sustainable Diversion measures,” Dr Webster said.

“Now the elephant in the room has been addressed, namely the Government’s admission that the Murray Darling Basin Plan’s June 2024 deadline won’t be met, the Minister is looking to the Greens to help Labor run roughshod over farmers, states and farming communities with no heed for the socioeconomic neutrality test.”

The Greens have already urged the Government to restart buybacks and guarantee the delivery of the 450 gigalitres, despite opposition from peak farming groups.

Labor will bring forward legislation before the end of the year to prevent a breach of the Water Act. To formally legislate delivering the 450GL with the Greens’ support, Labor only needs two more votes from the Senate crossbench.

“The keys to delivering the Murray Darling Basin Plan are cooperating with the State Governments and taking time to get it right,” Dr Webster said. “Under no circumstances is it acceptable to destroy our thriving horticultural irrigation communities through rushed buybacks to appease the Greens.”