Dairy farmers have condemned today’s announcement of renewed water buybacks in the Murray Darling Basin, saying it will damage dairy farming, slash milk production, hurt regional jobs and limit consumer choice.
Federal Water Minister Murray Watt announced the buybacks at the Basin Leadership Summit 2025 in Adelaide this morning.
The announcement includes increasing the volume of water that may be purchased in the southern connected basin by 130GL, bringing the total of all purchase programs to 300GL.
“We’ve just caught Woolies using American butter in stores and now the government is taking away more water from our dairy farmers,” Australian Dairy Farmers (ADF) president Ben Bennett said.
“Consumers’ access to safe, locally produced food is being attacked from all fronts – from within our own country!”
“Dairy farmers have already given up significant water rights since the millennium drought to help restore river health, yet are now being asked to cop even more pain for questionable gain.
“Our dairy farmers have done the heavy lifting to improve the Basin’s environmental health. We’ve invested heavily in water efficiency and drought resilience and have a proud environmental history as being stewards of the land. But this announcement ignores those efforts and punishes us for it.”
At a time when food prices are rising and the government itself is holding an inquiry into food security, Mr Bennett said it was ironic that buybacks are being prioritised.
“Buybacks create insecurity and make food production unsustainable,” he said.
Mr Bennett pointed to a recent industry report commissioned by Dairy Australia that warned of devastating economic impacts from more buybacks – warnings the government has effectively ignored.
“The independent analysis confirmed our worst fears: taking more water would cut annual milk production by up to 270 million litres and could cost dairy processors up to $545 million each year in lost output and higher costs.
“Those are massive hits to our supply chain and regional economy, yet Canberra is turning a blind eye.”
The report also found buybacks would reduce the consumptive water pool by between seven and 16 per cent, pushing water prices up between 17 and 40 per cent in dry years.
“That means higher costs for dairy farms – when they can least afford it – undermining our resilience,” Mr Bennett said.
ADF has demanded a full Regulatory Impact Statement on this announcement to assess the fallout from any further buybacks on dairy communities.
“No further buybacks should proceed without a comprehensive assessment of the damage this announcement will do to our dairy farmers, processors and rural towns,” Mr Bennett said.
He stressed that buybacks, even if labelled ‘voluntary’, drive up water prices and squeeze out dairy production, which in turn threatens local jobs and reduces consumer choice in dairy products. “If we keep losing local milk production, Australian consumers will end up with fewer choices on the supermarket shelf – just like we are seeing from Woolies with American butter dressed up in green and gold.”