The Murray Regional Strategy Group, a coalition of numerous farming and community organisations in the NSW Murray region, says the Australian public deserves to know the true cost of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, both in the immediate and longer term.
It has labelled a $300 million Sustainable Communities Program released last week to assist communities hurt by the plan as “grossly inadequate” and “not touching the surface” of what is needed.
MRSG chair Geoff Moar said he does not believe the Albanese Government is being sufficiently transparent with various aspects of the Basin Plan, including the damage being incurred by rural communities.
He also wants “open and honest discussions” about the cost of water buybacks from every angle.
He says if the government insists on recovering an additional 450 gigalitres, instead of investing in sustainable projects which deliver the combined social, economic and environmental balance that was originally promised in the Basin Plan, this needs to include:
• The full cost to Australian taxpayers if the government insists on recovering the 450GL through water purchases.
• The full cost of reduced farm production from recovering this water in the short and longer term.
• The flood risk from storing this water and estimated associated cost of future flooding, and the true cost of infrastructure works that are required to overcome constraints, as without these works the volumes as legislated under the Basin Plan cannot physically be delivered.
• The cost of living impacts that will be incurred by all Australians if we grow less food, in particular staples on which all families rely.
• The true cost from job losses in rural and regional communities.
• How much taxation revenue will the government forego from lost production and salaries.
“For too long, governments have skirted around the edges with Basin Plan rhetoric and have not been prepared to talk honestly about the cost of water recovery, the potential for alternative solutions, or the damage to rural communities if water purchases are pursued,” Mr Moar said.
“Communities are desperate to work collaboratively with governments to achieve environmental objectives, yet too often we are left out of the discussions and decisions appear to be based on winning votes, ahead of achieving the best outcomes.”
Mr Moar said the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s own data highlighted the damage from water buybacks and why they should be a last resort in Basin Plan implementation.
“The MDBA’s community profiles showed a net 3,261 full-time equivalent job losses were attributed to water recovery for the environment from 2001 to 2016 across 40 basin communities,” Mr Moar said.
“The latest figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicate the average national annual salary is just under $100,000, which for 3,261 jobs represents $326 million a year in lost activity from salaries alone.
“So for the minister to think $300 million as a total package is adequate is beyond comprehension.
“It doesn’t even cover one year of lost salary across the basin, let alone all the other social and economic damage from water buybacks.
“Recovering the water doesn’t only impact farm production, it has far broader ramifications across entire communities.
Mr Moar added that $300 million represented only $666 for 450,000 megalitres.
Water experts have estimated a single megalitre is worth at least $1,000 a year to the local economy when the multiplier effect is taken into account, further highlighting it was a “drop in the ocean” compared with what was required to adequately compensate Basin communities.
“In effect, the Minister is prepared to take $450 million a year from our economies, and replace it with a one-off $300 million,” Mr Moar said.
He also pointed out that spending money to spruce up a main street, which has previously occurred using structural adjustment funds, is pointless when the street is full of empty shops.
“We implore Minister Plibersek and her government to work with communities on genuine, long-term solutions to achieve Basin Plan outcomes, instead of an easy and politically convenient option of water buybacks which will hurt our nation for generations to come.
“And we want to emphasise the importance of being honest with Australian taxpayers. Instead of spending millions on misleading advertising, tell people what is really happening, including the human cost, and what the consequences will be well into the future.
“With honest discussions and a commitment to delivering the most effective Basin Plan, we can protect our environment without decimating parts of rural Australia,” Mr Moar said.
