The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has claimed that despite yesterday's release of the Auditor General's report into Irrigation Efficiency Programs, which revealed a less than desired diligence on the Food Bowl Project, the investment in irrigation infrastructure in Northern Victoria was not a waste of money.
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VFF President Andrew Broad said that farmers have long called for irrigation infrastructure upgrades across the state.
“Water is critical to the farm communities of Northern Victoria. Victoria’s water management approach is arguably the most conservative and effective in Australia, but our irrigation infrastructure has suffered from decades of underinvestment,” Mr Broad said.
“While the VFF opposes the removal of water from the Murray Darling Basin to take to Melbourne, the investment committed by the State Government to upgrade irrigation infrastructure is sorely needed.
“Water buyback is not the alternative to investment. The VFF has always maintained that governments should invest in irrigation infrastructure to obtain efficiency and share savings between irrigators and the environment. When governments invest in infrastructure, the community maintains the economic benefits and the environment receives the water savings, without damaging the important economic contribution of agriculture.
“There are problems in the rollout of the investment which the VFF has brought to the government’s attention. However problems in rolling out large scale infrastructure programs are not unusual nor are they reason to stop investment altogether.
“The government should take action to ensure that problems in the rollout of the modernisation are addressed. The first
step should be the establishment of an independent panel to review complaints by landowners and to indentify and
rectify inefficiencies and waste,” Mr Broad concluded.
