Buybacks Kill our Communities

Independent member for Murray, Helen Dalton, is angered the Federal government is pushing ahead with buybacks despite widespread condemnation from the farming community, who have once again been left out of consultation.

 Mrs Dalton said Southern Riverian Irrigators, Murray Regional Strategy Group, Speak Up Campaign and Central Murray Environmental Floodplains Group have all sent letters to Water Minister Tanya Plibersek, desperate to talk to the minister.

 “I have been asking from the get-go for Plibersek to come out and meet with us.

“Water is the lifeblood of our communities and yet she continues to ignore our requests and our region, while she pushes for more buybacks,” Mrs Dalton said.

 Buybacks are detrimental to communities, schools, sporting clubs, hospitals, local business and of course our ability to grow staple food.

 “Every single megalitre of water that leaves our communities is disastrous and the southern basin has already contributed 83 per cent of water bought back under the basin plan - that’s more than enough.”

 Mrs Dalton said despite the obvious economic impacts of buybacks, there is also significant upstream environmental damage delivering such huge volumes of water through the system.

 “We know to deliver an extra 450GL the Murray, Murrumbidgee, Lachlan and Darling Rivers must all be in flood, and there is a definite delivery risk in running high rivers and full dams, especially in a year like this.

 “The electorate of Murray is experiencing unprecedented and record flooding – changes to the way we run the system have no doubt contributed to the severity.”

 “This is just a disaster and as I keep saying, where do they think staple food production is going to come from if we keep taking water away from productive ag?

 “It won’t be long before we are totally reliant on overseas imports to feed this country.”