VICTORIAN farmers are concerned water issues have been deprioritised through a “very disappointing” move to drop the water portfolio from Cabinet over the weekend.
“Water is a major part of the country, and to be dropped out of the Cabinet is very disappointing,” said Victorian Farmers Federation water council chair Andrew Leahy.
Under changes announced by Nationals leader Barnaby Joyce on Sunday, Nationals MP Keith Pitt has retained his ministerial responsibilities for Resources and Water but has lost his seat at the Cabinet table.
The Labor Party said the change showed the National party did not treat water as a key priority.
“The National Party can’t claim that water is critical to farmers and growing agriculture, and then throw that portfolio out of Cabinet as internal political payback,” Shadow Water Minister Terri Butler told media.
The change came after an attempt by the Nationals last week to rip up key parts of the Murray Darling Basin Plan in a break from their Liberal Coalition partners.
The plan, which failed, would have prioritised upstream farmers’ access to water over environmental flows and fresh water for South Australia.
The Victorian Farmers Federation supported the Nationals’ proposed amendments to the plan, which would have scrapped 450GL of water savings required to be completed under the Plan by 2024.
The plan also proposed to legislate against water buybacks from irrigators, and would have blocked future attempts to save water for the environment when the Plan is reviewed in 2026.
Mr Leahy supported the proposals, but said predictions of reduced stream flows as a result of climate change, released this year by the CSIRO, were “concerning”.
“If that is the case, everyone (both irrigators and the environment) should take a hit,” he said.
The CSIRO warned earlier this year irrigators will need to plan for a 20 per cent reduction in water availability due to climate change.
