ABOUT 20,000 people have flocked to the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s 28 community consultation meetings over the past five weeks, sending Canberra an overwhelming message about the potential devastation the Authority’s proposed water cuts could have on rural businesses and communities.
The Authority held its final consultation meeting in Renmark last Tuesday and will now use feedback to help construct its proposed Basin Plan.
The Basin Plan is expected for release in mid-2011 and will be followed by another 16 weeks of formal public consultation.
On October 8, the MDBA sparked public uproar by proposing water cuts of 27 per cent to 37pc across the Basin in its guide to a draft basin plan.
Independent MP Tony Windsor said the strong attendance figures of the ensuing meetings showed how concerned people were about the Authority’s proposals.
“There are some quite significant issues out there both for the river and for those who live on and off it,” he said.
“In that sense you could say they have been successful meetings.
“There’s no doubt that the attendance has created some focus on some of those issues; the science, the economics and the social impacts of what the guide proposes.
“I’ve got absolutely no doubt that the influence of these community meetings will have an influence on the plan.”
NSW Irrigators Council CEO Andrew Gregson said if the attendance numbers were accurate, it highlighted an “unprecedented” level of community concern in regional Australia.
“Maybe 20,000 is the right number but either way it’s an unprecedented level of community concern and vastly in excess of what was anticipated,” he said.
“It points to the fact there’s not 20,000 irrigators in the basin and what that tells you very clearly is that it’s a problem for everyone; not just farmers.”
Water Minister Tony Burke said he was pleased by the high level of community engagement and stressed the Water Act would allow for a balanced outcome in the final plan.
“The day the guide come out I encouraged people to get involved in the process; that’s exactly what people have done and I think that’s good,” he said.
“The consultation in all of this is real and the Authority is conducting its consultation; I’m conducting mine.
“At the end of all of this they present me with a document which I have the chance to change and it’s important that we’ve heard as many voices as possible between now and then.
“Eventually where this gets is to the three principles that I started with even before the guide was released which is; I want to see healthy rivers, strong communities and food production and you can optimise all three.
“The Act says you need to optimise all three and that’s what I intend to do.”
Regional Development Minister Simon Crean said a strong message had been sent to Canberra by the 20,000 attendees.
But he also stressed the rural communities had also received a clear message themselves.
“They may not, and they certainly haven’t in the main, liked the way in which it’s been presented,” he said.
“Bt it’s been a message that says that if we are to restore the health of the river we have to put water back into it.
“It’s a message that subsequently has developed that said there are different ways to do this.
“We are looking to consider those as options but the objective has to be; health of the rivers; health of the communities; sustainability of the water system; sustainability of the economies in the region; and sustainability of the social infrastructure in the region.”
The Authority has consigned an investigation into socio-economic modelling left out of its guide to a draft basin plan.
In addition, Mr Windsor is chairing a parliamentary committee that will investigate the costs and benefits of the proposed plan and its impact on agricultural production and other related basin community businesses.
Mr Burke, Mr Crean and Agriculture Minister Joe Ludwig are also participating in the Parliamentary Committee for Regional Australia’s six-month inquiry.
Mr Windsor said his committee would take submissions from various interest groups and hold public meetings during January, February and March next year.
“I just hope the people don’t play too much politics with this,” he said.
“This is a bit like the climate change debate.
“It’s easy to find fear and beat it up into a political debate but there are a lot of solutions out there.
“What we are intending to do is to look at each valley and see whether there are any innovate ways of achieving a more healthy river system without annihilating communities; and I think there is.
“I’ve spoken to people already, where there are individual solutions within specific valleys and that’s where we have to get to.
“We have to start going back through each branch of the system rather than looking at it as a whole.”
Mr Windsor’s committee will link with the Authority’s reporting process that will also include findings of a Senate inquiry headed up by Liberal Senator Bill Heffernan.
Mr Windsor said the legislation pertaining to the plan would not surface until the end of next year; “if in fact it ever sees the light of day”.
“That’s the program at the moment but all that can change,” he said.
“The criticism of the Authority was that there wasn’t enough of a look at the socio and economic impacts.
“We want to actually drill down into that and find out where those socio economic impacts are and how bad they are; if in fact, what the guide says came into effect.
“Our committee will look at where the socio economic impacts are and then most importantly, how do you achieve river health savings without massive social economic impacts.”
MDBA Chairman Mike Taylor was contact for comment last week but failed to respond in time for the deadline.
Email a friend