A SENATE inquiry is underway into the Murray Darling Basin Plan’s implementation and risks to the viability of farmers and irrigation communities caused by removing water entitlements.
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Membership of the Senate Select Committee inquiry was established last week and will be chaired by NSW Liberal Democratic Party Senator David Leyonhjelm.
The inquiry was established in late June to look into the social, economic and environmental impacts of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan on regional communities.
Submissions are set to close on September 25 with a final report expected on February 26, next year.
Other Committee members include SA Family First Senator Bob Day; Queensland LNP Senator Matthew Canavan; NSW Greens Senator Lee Rhiannon; SA Liberal Anne Ruston; and NSW Labor Senator Jenny McAllister.
Independent Victorian Senator John Madigan will also participate on the Committee and was instrumental in initiating the inquiry, following his “listening” tours of Basin communities earlier this year.
This week, he encouraged all Basin residents and organisations to make submissions to the inquiry.
“Finally the people of the Basin will be given a voice on this issue,” he said.
“This has been a long time coming.
“If the people of the Basin had been listened to in the first place we wouldn’t be in this mess today.
“Instead of drawing on their knowledge in formulating the Plan, successive governments relied on so-called experts without any experience.
“Their influence can be seen in the elevation of environmental objectives over social and economic considerations.
“How else do you come up with a model that renders agriculture unviable in parts of the Basin, which is Australia’s food bowl?”
During a speech in February after extensive public meetings with Basin communities, Senator Madigan said, “the rage that burned across the region five years ago when the MDBA released its first draft water buyback policy has not died down”.
His tour included Albury-Wodonga, Deniliquin, Barham, Koondrook, Robinvale, Mildura and Yea, north of Melbourne.
Senator Madigan said people on farms he visited were leaving the industry – despite having survived floods, fluctuating commodity prices, and other traumas.
He said they were now questioning whether they could survive the “so-called Murray-Darling Basin Plan”.
“They are fed up with talking to politicians who give them blah, blah, blah in return,” he said.
“They feel tricked by an unaccountable bureaucracy hell-bent, they say, on an unmeasurable environmental imperative.”
Further information on the Committee is available here.
Colin Bettles
National political writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
National political writer for Fairfax Agricultural Media.
