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Feds ‘fudged the figures,’ accuses irrigator leader

Posted on December 2, 2011

NOT HAPPY: Sunraysia Irrigators Council chairman Danny Lee during last year’s protests agains the first Murray Darling Basin draft plan. He said not much has changed in the new plan.

By BEN PISCIONERI

THE head of Sunraysia’s peak irrigator body – the Sunraysia Irrigators Council – says the new draft Murray Darling Basin plan is no different to the first, claiming the Federal Government has simply “fudged the figures.”

Sunraysia Irrigators Council chairman, Danny Lee, said the plan, once it is fully implemented in 2019 would result in a 30 percent reduction in irrigation in the Murray Darling Basin, and result in the death of horticulture in many areas.

“All they’ve done since the last plan is come back with figures they thought were a bit softer, and hoping they could get away with it,” Mr Lee said this week.

He said taking into account water already recovered by the Government, the new plan would effectively be taking the equivalent of the Dartmouth Dam out of irrigation use once it reaches its fruition.

Mr Lee said recent data collected by the Australian Bureau of Statistics showed how much Australian stood to lose if horticulture suffered under the draft plan released this week.

According to the data, the gross value of irrigated agriculture production in the Murray Darling Basin was $4.4billion – 38 percent of the nation’s production.

He said this figure could be cut by 30 percent if the Basin plan went ahead.

Mr Lee said the problem with the plan was the uncertainty it created for irrigation communities and the low prices being offered for water.

He said horticulture was already at a low ebb after one of the worst droughts in the nation’s history, compounded by low commodity prices and, in its current state, was not a viable proposition.

Mr Lee said the required re-investment in horticulture needed for its revival wouldn’t happen without water security, and he says the Murray Darling Basin draft plan is taking away that security.

“The plan won’t mean much to the average grower if he doesn’t want to sell his water, but as the industry collapses there will be no choice but to sell,” he said.

“Who is going to invest in horticulture without knowing what is going to happen in terms of water.

“There’s no incentive to invest here.”

Mr Lee said the draft plan was much more than about improving the health of the Murray Darling Basin.

He said the environment was effectively a front.

“The real purpose of water reform was the removal of water from the hands of tens of thousands of entitlement holders and putting it into the hands of government and big business,” Mr Lee said this week.

“The environment is the reason they’ve hidden behind so they can get the mums and dads of Australia on board, who thought they were doing the right thing.

“The government and big business have obviously played them for fools and hidden behind this agenda.

“Water is the greatest asset this county has got, the most important commodity in the world, and the government knows it.

“That’s always been the agenda and the result is now awfully close.”

Mr Lee said he believed many growers, particularly the numerous growers who were struggling in an unviable position, would be prepared to leave the land if there were given a fair and reasonable deal.

He said some growers may be more accepting of the draft plan if they had the ability to leave the land in a viable way.

“Horticulture hasn’t been viable for some time, not any more with the terms of trade we’ve got,” Mr Lee said.

“Right now, if the government was fair in terms of prices, we’d still have a chance to get something, but our position is very, very dire.”

Mr Lee said even he would be prepared to leave if the right conditions were offered.

“No-one is going to like me for saying this, but I think the best option for a district like Merbein – and that’s where I live, where I’ve invested my life – our best hope for a life for the next generation of our family is to collect all the irrigators together, add up how much water we’ve got and offer it to the government for a fair price,” he said.

“But the government won’t pay the fair prices growers are asking for.

“If the government wants us off the land, if horticulture on the Murray is unsustainable, help us leave the land, but they are trying to get rid of us by starving out people.

“At the moment we’re being starved off our land and all of us are going to walk away with nothing. It’s death by a thousand cuts.”

Mr Lee pointed to Wakool irrigators who offered their entitlements to the government under a similar scenario, but the government rejected their price. He said there was a similar offer made by Wimmera growers, which again was rejected by government.

He said the government was prepared to pay the equivalent of $5600 per megalitre to build water infrastructure in Victoria, but was only offering growers $1500 per megalitre.

“And I think if you explained that to the ordinary person in metropolitan areas, who try to look after the environment, they wouldn’t accept that as fair and reasonable.

Mr Lee said $5000 per megalitre would be enough to allow growers a viable means of leaving the land.

“That’s still nothing like its true value, but that would be a fair deal for farmers who could walk away and establish another life for themselves.

Mr Lee was also critical of the upcoming public consultation process.

“It will be a complete waste of time and will change nothing. They’ve already made up their minds.”

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