The Victorian Government has formed a committee spanning a range of government departments to pursue water policies and contest the Federal Government’s grab for water through buybacks.
Hold tight - we’re checking permissions before loading more content
The government has set up an inter-departmental committee comprising representatives from agriculture, local government, environment, regional development and industry.
The group is being driven by Victorian Water Minister Harriet Shing, Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan said at a Rural Press Club lunch on Friday.
“We don’t support the buybacks that are being proposed by the Commonwealth...” Ms Allan said.
“In prosecuting the case to the Commonwealth Government we are taking a whole-of-government approach, and the water minister, Harriet Shing, is taking the lead.“
Ms Allan attended a water summit hosted by the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District water leadership group earlier in the morning, attended by food processors, farmers, community leaders, members of parliament and local government leaders.
Speaking to Country News after the water meeting, Ms Shing said the water issue covered a whole-of-Victoria matter, that water policy touched multiple portfolios and that it was being established to inform the development of water policy relating to the Murray-Darling Basin.
“We know that water policy isn’t something that fits exclusively within the water portfolio.
“Water is an enabler of so many different things, that’s why a whole-of-Victoria government approach is so important.”
“Victoria is united in the position we are taking to the Commonwealth.”
The state is pressing ahead with its “prospectus” designed to offer an alternative to the Federal Government’s buyback campaign.
Ms Shing said it was not too late to pursue alternatives, despite the Federal Government having started water purchases.
“The federal minister has made the point previously that buybacks are just one tool in the tool kit and Victoria continues to make the point that in considering the options for recovery of water and benefiting the environment all the way through the Murray-Darling Basin, there are projects that do not involve buybacks that can return that water, that can restore and preserve and provide adaption for our environment.”
Water Minister Harriet Shing, second from right, with, from left, the joint chairs of the GMID water leadership group, Suzanna Sheed and David McKenzie, with Gannawarra Shire Mayor Ross Stanton, at the water summit held at Bendigo on Friday.
