THE National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) has called for a strong bipartisan effort to deliver the 1500 gigalitre cap on water buybacks under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan through its submission to the Senate Inquiry into the Water Amendment Bill 2015.
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NFF Water Taskforce chairman Les Gordon said the cap was necessary.
“A legislated cap would be an important signal from all sides of the political spectrum to these communities that it values their views, understands the impacts, and is prepared to stand up and do something about it,” he said.
“We will continue to seek support from Labor and the crossbench to secure the passage of legislation through the Senate to enshrine the cap as law.
According to a study commissioned by Dairy Australia in 2012, buybacks of irrigator entitlements cost the federal government around $2000/megalitre (ML) and reduce regional economic activity by around $4300 for every ML purchased.
Alternatively, water efficiency measures that cost the federal government about $3700/ ML deliver $9800/ML worth of increased farm productivity and generate additional regional economic activity worth $6200/ML.
“Leaving water in production means that less jobs will be lost on farms and important downstream processing industries,” Mr Gordon said.
“It is this employment on our farms, our rice mills, cotton gins, wineries, and nut and fruit processing facilities that provides the economic and social backbone of many communities.”