By Aaron Cordy
LAST year the Minister for the Environment and Water, Tanya Plibersek celebrated the first anniversary of the ‘bill to rescue the Murray-Darling Basin Plan (MDBP) passed in Parliament,’ a month after the Federal Government invested more than $150M to deliver the Great South East Irrigation Scheme and drive economic growth in Tasmania, and another $160M that will go to NSW communities in the MDB to create jobs and boost local economies.
Ms Plibersek said, “It’s a win for Tassie farmers, a win for jobs and a win for the economy.” And “The Albanese Labor Government is delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full in a way that supports the environment, communities and jobs – including in NSW.”
But what of those forgotten farmers in Northern Victoria who rely on the Murray-Darling Basin for their livelihood and feel utterly let down by the Government’s MDBP?
The Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) held the first two expressions of interest stages for open tenders last year as part of the plan to purchase 450GL of water and began accepting offers in December last year.
“The Australian Government’s voluntary water purchase Selected Catchments Open Tender, which closed in September 2024, received more than 1,000 responses across the southern Murray−Darling Basin, far exceeding the volume of water required,” said a DCCEEW spokesperson.
“The tender sought to purchase eligible water rights for up to 70GL of surface water per year across five catchments in the southern connected Basin. The department started accepting offers from tenderers in December 2024 and is continuing to do so in 2025.”
No one can blame the farmers for selling their water back to the government if the prices are right after a couple of years of water abundance and floods. But what happens in a few years when the rains have evaporated and this sunburnt country heads into another drought as Australia is prone to? What happens to local irrigators who don’t sell when their neighbours do?
These are question that troubles many water stakeholders locally, including Suzanna Sheed AM, who has been a long-time water advocate for the region.
“People have had a lot of trouble understanding the complexities of the Murray Darling Basin Plan, and what it all means. But we’ve now got to the stage where it’s pretty straightforward, the government are buying water,” said Ms Sheed.
“We now risk not having enough water to be able to run our irrigation systems at a price that will be sustainable, because there’ll be fewer people with less water needing to be delivered, and you’ll have a great big channel, and four farmers along the way will have sold, but one down the end will have kept his water.
“So, you’re delivering water to not enough people to make it financially viable for GMW. So, at some point you need that guy at the end to go, and you need to rationalise the system. And so, the irrigation footprint will have to become smaller.”
With the upcoming Federal then State elections looming, do the communities of northern Victoria have it in them to fight for their water, and is it too late? With the first two rounds of water tenders being accepted, and time still before voters are called to the ballots, will more water be sold out of the region?
“People are losing confidence in the region because of the government’s policies on water. While the Victorian Government has stood with Northern Victoria against the buybacks, it didn’t stop them. It couldn’t stop them. And we’re now in this situation where Victoria is seen as uncooperative, something like $160M of the $300M Community Sustainability fund has already gone to New South Wales. So, what is left for us?” said Ms Sheed.
“A change of government would have a small impact. Would they stop all the buybacks? The letters of offer are about to go out on the 70GL, so those deals could all be done, those purchases could already be made on that first 70GL.
“For the Federal Labor government, Minister Plibersek can say, she delivered. To all the Greens, in Adelaide, and in her inner Sydney seat she can say, I delivered. I’ve saved the rivers. I’ve saved the Murray Darling Basin. The Minister says this even though the Darling River is being ruined, damaged beyond all belief, and even though northern New South Wales is doing very little in any way to improve the environment. They continue to do anything other than what they’ve always done, which is whatever they want to do including extensive floodplain harvesting. Except for the southern NSW irrigation areas, whose farmers feel they have abandoned, just like we feel we have.
“With the forthcoming federal election looming we need to also hear from the opposition parties as to what they would do in relation to the water buybacks and what proposals they have to assist communities in adjusting to the inevitable changes” Ms Sheed said.
In a report from Frontier Economics issued by the State Government in September 2022, the opening read: “Basin Plan water recovery has had socio-economic impacts on irrigators and communities in Northern Victoria. Further water recovery from the consumptive pool will add to the impacts already being experienced.” Unfortunately, the report has been largely ignored.
What then is the Food Bowl of Australia without water? Are Northern Victorians ready for the changes and challenges they face much less of this precious commodity?
“I think the question is, is there a capacity and a feeling within the community to start thinking very hard about where we’re going, what that means, and what we want to look like in 10 years’ and 20 years? What does that mean for our town communities, too? Because if we can’t stay economically viable with much less water, we’ll have a problem,” said Ms Sheed.
