QFF COMMENT ON ALP MDB POLICY

The Queensland Farmers’ Federation welcomes the announcement that the Labor Party would reach the full requirement of irrigation cutbacks in the Murray Darling Basin by purchasing water from willing sellers.
Until this announcement, irrigators had not known how – or if – they would be compensated for any reductions to their water entitlement signalled in the draft Basin Plan.
“We are still in the dark about just how big a reduction will be required to meet the Sustainable Diversion Limits,” CEO Dan Galligan said. “But a policy that would meet the entire gap by purchasing water without qualification is welcome.”
He added however: “There are no funding figures attached to this announcement. Given that this commitment is beyond the scope of the forward estimates of the Budget and the SDLs are not yet public information, we are concerned about the capability and willingness of the government to fund such a potentially big promise.
“How much water will they be buying? We won’t know until they release the guide to the Basin Plan which has been delayed until after the election.
“So far, the government has bought very little water in Queensland, so they also must commit to meeting a fair market price for the water here and it of course also begs the question about what happens if people do not wish to sell their water.”
Mr Galligan said that this announcement would not solve all the problems that irrigators and communities would face with the Basin Plan.
“Irrigation contributes wealth and employment to local communities. While buying water may address the economic impact upon individual irrigators, there will yet remain enormous socioeconomic consequences for their broader communities and these too will need to be addressed.”