I have just finished a three day trip through the southern Murray-Darling basin visiting Griffith, Shepparton, Rochester, Kyabram and Deniliquin. I would like to thank everyone who gave up their time to come to community forums and other meetings to have their say on the draft Murray-Darling basin plan.
The consistent theme from all centres is that people continue to feel frustrated with a government that doesn't listen and doesn't come clean with people about what really are their plans in the basin.
People in rural communities have to account for every drop of water. An irrigator knows how much he should water a field for different crops. Now the environment will be the biggest irrigator but instead of watering paddocks they will water wetlands. Yet the government doesn't even have a plan to show what environmental assets will be watered how and when.
We should be supporting the vibrant towns that irrigated agriculture has built in regional Australia. They have done what their country asked them. They have moved to the disparate corners of our nation, scratched out a block and built vibrant towns and communities.
I met with businesses in Deniliquin whose sales are down over 20 per cent since the release of the Guide last year. Real estate agents in Deniliquin are frustrated that rentals are strong, given the reopening of the rice mill, but that it is hard to attract buyers because of the uncertainty that the plan creates. Farmers in Shepparton remain frustrated that years later billions have been spent on water buybacks but hardly anything on infrastructure upgrades which can deliver water for the community and the environment.
The best way Canberra can help is to be upfront with people about the basin plan and do our best to deliver a plan that truly balances economic, social and environmental factors, that is the triple-bottom line that we all promised them.
People in the basin don't need consultants to tell them what to do, they just need a government that makes sensible decisions and gives them the certainty to get on with their life and invest in their future.
The Murray-Darling Basin Authority starts consultations next week and I encourage everyone in the basin to get to the meetings and make sure their voices are heard. The Authority is putting these meetings on at an inconvenient time during harvests and holidays. But if we don't stand up now, we will miss our opportunity to deliver a better plan for regional Australia.