A delegation of southern Riverina locals representing businesses and advocacy groups Voices4Farrer, SRI and Murray Regional Strategy Group, met with Federal Minister for Water David Littleproud’s advisor and Shadow Minister for Environment and Water Tony Burke’s chief of staff to voice the request.
SRI chairman Chris Brooks, who represents 1800 irrigators in the southern Riverina, said the collective demanded a royal commission to review and redraft a more workable, fair and reasonable Murray Darling Basin Plan.
The MDBP is a water sharing plan created by the MDBA to divert in excess of 2750 gigalitres and an additional 450 gigalitres of irrigation water away from irrigators to the environment.
“We simply need the Basin Plan to be more acceptable to all parties within the basin – for irrigators, environmentalists and the Indigenous,” Mr Brooks said.
“The overall lack of transparency, alleged corruption, mismanagement and lack of accountability that’s occurring must be addressed with a total overhaul, to benefit local communities, Indigenous and environmental groups.”
Mr Brooks said the Royal Commission would provide a suitable platform for people, businesses, organisations and government departments from New South Wales, South Australia and Queensland to “lay all issues out on the table once and for all”.
Mr Brooks stressed the politics of water must be removed to allow for common sense, productivity and the long term viable protection of the existing environment.
“No one is getting any value from the Basin Plan in its current form,” he said.
Deniliquin businesswoman Vicki Meyer said the Royal Commission would “stop the rot” associated with the Basin Plan and the overall mismanagement of water in the Murray-Darling Basin.
“We need to stop the rot – not just by stopping the rotting fish events happening which is a byproduct of the Basin Plan – this is a national problem concerning the greatest human need: water,” Ms Meyer said.
“First and foremost we need accountability into the triple bottom line because quite clearly, our rural communities have become refugees of the system.
“So many people are suffering from the lack of water in our communities. We have clear mental health issues in communities that are a by-product with a failing health system that’s exacerbating it.”
“We need a Royal Commission to achieve transparency and accountability in what’s happening.”
SRI will continue to fight to address issues associated with the mismanagement of water and the Basin Plan including:
• Environment: Failed environmental outcomes, no meaningful measurement, river destruction, drowning forests, blue green algae blooms, fish kills.
• Commerce: Falling GDP, collapse of service industries, collapse of residential asset values.
• Socioeconomic and disadvantaged: Unemployment, mental health issues, youth suicide, asset value destruction, environmental refugees, depopulation of regional Australia.
• Indigenous: Fish kills, fill Menindee and stop flooding the Barmah Millewa forest, killing the spirit of Indigenous communities, not enough water for Indigenous communities.