Listen up water policy megalomaniacs, I am a farmer in the Murray Irrigation district. You know Murray? Where we just led a grassroots revolt in the NSW state election. We ousted the Nationals and replaced them with our own local water warrior, Helen Dalton. We are next door to the seat of Barwon, where the National Party's 69-year strong hold met a sudden death. It sort of resembled the Menindee fish kills, but no one cared about the Nats loss.
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I want to make it very clear for those of you who make and enforce water policy, there are farmers and then there are farmers. Family farms come with a history of the environment, an appreciation for the seasons and a level of adaptability and ingenuity that ensures future generations can farm sustainably.
Corporate farms come with deep pockets, a need to satisfy investors and the ability to bail out when they realise farming in Australia can be a bit 'how-you-going.' Just to clarify, you are in bed with the corporates, they exist primarily in the north of NSW. You have allowed them to legally capture every single drop of rain or runoff that touches their National Party supporting land in exchange for a hand in their deep pocket. This greed has killed the Darling River (in the north to reaffirm). Drought and family farms have not devastated environmental flows or river ecosystems, as you would have the media repeat.
I grow food so that you and other more deserving Australians have a reliable source of sustenance. I work alongside my husband, my parents and my children. It is worth noting that we are not morons and we know how to manage risk. Our irrigation infrastructure and cropping equipment ensures we get the most 'crop for drop' as humanly possible. We can cop a few blows from Mother Nature, it's part of our business. However we cannot tolerate the coward's punch being served up by you. You call it the Murray Darling Basin Plan and it needs to be paused, reviewed and overhauled. Unless of course you want to sit down every morning to eat your imported (suspect) cereal soaking in your imported (suspect) milk. Eat up kids!
Let me draw you a mud map of what your 'plan' is doing in the real world. The Murray River flows to the south of my farm and the Mulwala Canal is my northern boundary. For you ignorant souls in power in Canberra and Sydney, I'll just quickly explain; they are the two arteries you are using to send water from our catchment down to your manipulative, South Australian, desert dwelling mates who hold marginal political seats. It was agreed that NSW (Murray River and Darling River) and Victoria would keep the water up to South Australia after things got a little hairy for them during the Millennium Drought. I think that's fair. They need water to live and they have no reliable water catchment or water storage. But South Australia had you by the short and curlies when this agreement was made and now they are taking the Mickey.
Not only does South Australia demand a fixed amount of water every year regardless of rainfall or inflows into our catchment. But now they are growing water-thirsty permanent crops like almonds, grapes and avocados. They are also passionate recreational boaters who demand permanent water supply into their shallow, once salty lakes. Oh and because the northern corporates have suffocated the Darling River, it's now completely up to the Murray River and the family farmers to satisfy the needs of our spoilt, down stream dependent.
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If you consider South Australia the geographical rectum of the river, which it is, then you may grasp just how preposterous this plan is. You are moving and losing an insane amount of water from where it falls and where it is stored (Southern NSW / North East Victoria / Lake Hume / Dartmouth Dam) to where you are gagging for political approval in South Australia.
In doing so, you have not only sparked a political revolt in the state seat of Murray and the Federal seat of Farrer in Southern NSW, you have also fast-tracked the demise of the food bowl we were busily sustaining. I know you wish we would just hurry up and quietly go broke, but we're going to fight you. While we all still have two feet and a heart beat we are going to hold a rally in Albury on Tuesday April 9 at 10am at QEII Square. We are demanding you, the almighty water policy makers, PAUSE THE MURRAY DARLING BASIN PLAN. Then we are going to vote for an independent MP in the federal election and make Farrer matter.