Victoria’s peak dairy body has added its calls to stop a further 450GL of irrigation water being turned over for environmental use.
United Dairyfarmers of Victoria (UDV) president Adam Jenkins urged the Federal Government not to unfairly disadvantage Basin communities by turning over the additional water for environmental usage.
“It’s our farmers who have provided much of Victoria’s 1075GL target under the plan,” Mr Jenkins said.
The Murray Darling Basin was home to more than 1700 dairy farms, with 98 per cent being family owned.
Mr Jenkins said 28 per cent of Australia’s milk (worth $1.3 billion at the farmgate) was produced by dairy farms in the Basin.
More than 12,000 regional Australians were employed on farms and in local dairy factories.
Mr Jenkins said he felt the Victorian government was pushing hard to for the neutrality test to be applied, before any more water was taken out of the system.
“The economic impact is quite proven and the UDV will be fighting very hard on this issue,” Mr Jenkins said.
“There are significant economic impacts flowing from the Basin plan.”
The dairy sector in the region was a very big player in the Australian milk pool.
“There’s a huge impact for companies , who are wishing to compete on a global scale, from less milk.”
His claims followed revelations, at the Tatura Goulburn Murray Irrigation District (GMID) water forum, farmers in the area were are using 60 per cent more water than they owned.
Milk production in northern Victoria was down 500 megalitres a year under the plan .
Water policy analyst Claire Miller told the forum dairy was the backbone of the district.
There had been a 25 per cent reduction in water use, by the dairy industry, in the past 15 years.
This followed a 23pc reduction in high-reliability water shares, which had been transferred to the environment, through buy-backs.
“Dairy farmers have always used more water than we own,” she said.
But previously, that was a reallocation of water within the system, as the industry was using what others weren’t.
“As a collective, dairy farmers are now using 60pc more water than they own,” she said.
“To source that water, they now have to go out into the open market, into the wider southern basin, and compete, often with corporate interests, who have very, very deep pockets.”
Mr Jenkins said Victoria had already achieved, or identified projects to achieve, more than 75pc of its 823GL target under the plan.
“The Basin Plan legislation states that the 450GL upwater for South Australia is conditional on socio-economic neutrality, but as we’ve seen with the northern Basin review, irrigation communities have been severely impacted by the Plan so it’s not neutral.
“The socio-economic neutrality for the 450GL upwater is legislated to protect these farmers and communities in Northern Victoria.
“We must not deviate.”
