AUSTRALIAN Dairy Farmers (ADF) is concerned about the development of allegations made this past week regarding the misappropriation of water from the Murray-Darling Basin.
Chair of the ADIC Water Taskforce, Daryl Hoey said that there are rules on water extraction and it is only fair to all irrigators and taxpayers that the rules are enforced.
“The allegations on ABC’s Four Corner’s program are serious, and must be independently and transparently investigated to give everyone confidence that water is shared fairly and equitably according to the rules,” said Mr Hoey.
“Notwithstanding the issues raised in the Barwon-Darling River catchment in the northern Basin, we believe the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, overall, is far from broken.”
More than 2000 billion litres of water have already been recovered, mostly in the southern Basin, with improved environmental outcomes already evident five years only after the Plan was signed in 2012.
However, while the Plan is on track to meet its 2750GL target by 2019, communities are paying a high socio-economic cost as agricultural production declines across some regions.
“The dairy industry is concerned that additional adverse impacts will occur if more water is recovered from irrigators,” said Mr Hoey.
“Any failure to enforce compliance with the rules only adds insult to injury in adversely affected communities.”
ADF is committed to working with State and Federal Governments to improve the management of water in the Basin, achieve the necessary community buy-in, and achieve socio-economic outcomes while meeting environmental targets.
Media Contact:
Bernadette Marr, Media and Communications Manager
M: 0447 161 919
E: media@australiandairyfarmers.com.au