VFF Water Council chair Andrew Leahy met with Ms Shing on March 24 to share the views of irrigators and farming communities.
“It was great to catch up face-to-face and discuss the morale amongst farmers following the floods as well as sharing our concerns with basin plan implementation by the Federal Government,” Mr Leahy said.
“The Albanese Government’s decision to resume water buybacks last month has farmers and rural communities on a knife-edge.
“The VFF reiterated that less water for farmers will see less food being produced that will ultimately drive up the cost of living.
“It was encouraging that Minister Shing acknowledged our concerns and reiterated that the Victorian Government remains opposed to water buybacks”.
Mr Leahy said he also discussed a recent report by consultants Aither that looked at horticulture water supply demand in the southern Murray-Darling Basin.
“The report clearly tells us that a repeat of the 2007-08 drought of just 993 Gl being supplied would see a catastrophic shortfall for permanent plantings given their demand is currently 1128 Gl and could grow by 556 Gl to 1684 Gl,” he said.
“We reiterated to the minister that farmers are in the business of growing food, but we need water to do it.
“Governments need to remember that farming is the lifeblood of rural communities. Our decision to grow food leads to jobs in a range of industries.
“The local rural stores, fencing contractors, veterinarians, machinery suppliers, machinery technicians, earthmoving contractors, even the local teacher will be teaching children from farming families.
“The VFF will continue to discuss our concerns with Minister Shing leading into the next Water Ministerial Council meeting, which is likely scheduled for the middle of the year.”
Mr Leahy said the VFF was also keen to host Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek in the region to highlight concerns about the Murray-Darling basin Plan.
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