OPINION
By Isaac Jeffery
THE National Irrigators’ Council has released its submission to the finalising the Murray Darling Basin Plan ideas consultation process.
It comes as the Federal Water Minister has asked the Basin Authority to report on whether the Plan can be achieved by its mid-2024 deadline.
Minister Tanya Plibersek called for ideas on how to finalise the Basin Plan, honouring her commitment to consider “all options on the table”.
The Plan was drafted over a decade ago and a lot has been achieved and changed since then.
This ideas process is an opportunity for the minister to consider how we can collectively work to finalise the Basin Plan by focusing on delivering real, tangible outcomes.
One of the recommendations put forward by NIC was for the timelines to be extended to allow the states time to complete their Sustainable Diversion Limit Adjustment Mechanism (SDLAM) projects.
Reports this week that the minister has asked the MDBA about timelines, signals the minister’s pragmatic approach to finalising the Plan and hopefully will lead to agreement around the Ministerial Council table to extend the timelines.
Farmers have already given up more than 2100 gigalitres of water.
They have done the heavy lifting and it’s time for Basin governments to deliver on their commitments, so their failures aren’t sheeted home to farmers and communities.
If that takes a little more time, then so be it. It’s better to have a good plan which works, than a bad plan which destroys jobs, businesses, communities, food availability and the cost of living.
NIC urges Basin ministers to consider the ideas which have been presented and embrace the collaboration of stakeholders to finalise the Plan.
The alternative is buybacks which will hurt all Australians at the checkout and won’t deliver real outcomes by just adding water and hoping for results.
In our submission, NIC presents a number of innovative ideas, including options or derivatives trading, co-locating renewable energy and water infrastructure, building and extending partnerships between irrigators and environmental water holders, and investing in complementary measures.
These ideas add flexibility, achieve multiple goals at once and deliver triple bottom line outcomes for the productive sector, communities and the environment – which is the most important principle of the Basin Plan.
NIC has long said there are better ways to deliver the Plan, which gets results without harming industry and communities.
We welcome the government considering these ideas and extending the timelines to ensure the Plan is fair and works for all stakeholders.
The Plan shouldn’t be about pitting food growers against the environment or communities against communities or state against state.
It should be about working together to achieve shared goals and outcomes, and NIC stands ready to engage in this collaboration to see healthy rivers, healthy wildlife, healthy communities and thriving local economies.
*Isaac Jeffrey is the National Irrigators’ Council chief executive officer
