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Tuesday, 5 October 2004 The Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia Inc (RGA) today expressed concern over a lack of depth in the commitment of the ALP and the complete absence of any commitment by the Greens to the National Water Initiative (NWI). “We are disappointed that the ALP and Greens have not given the NWI full support”, said RGA Executive Director Matt Linnegar The RGA had previously welcomed the Coalition announcement on implementing the NWI and had noted that rice growers were awaiting further detail from the other major parties. Since then the ALP has announced a $1 billion dollar package focused solely on the Murray River with $500 million focused on the ‘Murray River Bank’ initiative and a further $500 million for returning flows to the Murray. The Greens have not gone beyond a promise to return 3000GL to the Murray. Mr Linnegar noted that while some aspects of Labor’s announcement were welcomed, confusion remained as to the full effects of such a policy on the irrigation industry. “We welcome planned ALP Murray River Bank spending on water saving and infrastructure initiatives however we don’t know how Labor plan to spend the other $500 million on returning flows. If this means standing in the market for the full amount then we could witness unwelcome impacts on our communities”, he said. “The recent commitment to honouring the formula for assigning responsibility for future risk as agreed through the COAG NWI is also welcome. Future risk is a vital component of the NWI, however this is not the only component and the RGA are yet to hear from Labor on the NWI in its entirety, We had hoped for more detail from the Greens however I can only suggest that the dual effects of a lack of support for perpetual access rights and a return of 3000GL to the Murray will be devastating to irrigation communities. Unfortunately the Greens have not provided any sound basis for their 3000GL figure. This smacks of one-upmanship over Labors’ 1500GL figure without the finer details. There have been encouraging signs from the Democrats on the NWI through their Rural Water policy which calls for funding of NWI reforms and adjustment assistance to affected communities. On the other hand the RGA does not support volume-based targets as a means of improving river health and therefore rejects the Democrats figure of 1500GL for the Murray. Mr Linnegar also commented that while the States had been critical of the Coalitions’ use of competition payments to underwrite their policy, there was no apparent opposition of the use of such funding by the ALP for health. “This should never be about a choice between water and health – both are essential to all. The RGA have long held the view that competition payments should be utlised to deliver on CoAG outcomes. As such we believe that expenditure of these payments to ensure full implementation of the NWI should be supported by all parties and all State signatories to the NWI. We call on both the Labor party and the Greens to go beyond the Murray and commit to implementing the NWI in full. CONTACT |
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