Griffith farmers hostile to river plan

15 Dec 2011, 5:07 pm   -   Source: AAP
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(AAP)

(AAP)

Irrigators in the southern NSW town of Griffith have jeered the environment minister and cheered Tony Abbott over the Murray-Darling Basin draft plan.

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Griffith residents wearing black armbands staged a mock funeral for their town and jeered at the federal environment minister during heated public talks on the Murray-Darling Basin draft plan.

Last year, Griffith farmers burned guides to the original draft plan for repairing Australia's largest river system, furious at proposed targets for increased environmental flows.

The minister, Tony Burke, and the new chief of the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, Craig Knowles, travelled to the irrigation-dependent town on Thursday to discuss revised proposals - including lower targets - with around 7000 community members.

The plan now proposes to cut water use by 2750 gigalitres a year, phased in over seven years.

The cuts are lower than those in the earlier plan - which sought up to 4000gl.

But the anger of residents was apparent. Many wore black armbands, and a makeshift coffin emblazoned with the words "R.I.P Basin Communities" was carried into the Yoogali Catholic Club hall in Griffith for the start of the meeting.

Mr Knowles drew angry jeers when he warned the community that opposing the measures wouldn't solve the problems of the river system.

"It's fair for me to say that simply rejecting the plan won't make the problem go away," he said.

Some people already had made up their minds to oppose the plan, he said.

"There are very many different views throughout the basin, many of them diametrically opposed to each other and diametrically opposed to yours," he said.

"We have tried to strike a balance."

Mr Burke said the plan - which will come before the parliament in 2012 in the form of regulations rather than legislation - would be implemented, and he expected the coalition would not disallow it.

He said the Riverina and other irrigation communities would benefit from new water infrastructure.

"We now have billions of dollars getting out the door and shovels in the ground for infrastructure projects," he said.

Opposition Leader Tony Abbott praised the community for standing up for its future and said the region should become the food bowl of Asia.

"We want to ensure that it continues to be the greatest food-producing area of our country," he said to cheers at the meeting.

He said the coalition would not support a "bad plan".

Independent MP Tony Windsor, who chaired a bipartisan parliamentary inquiry into the issue which recommended strategic buybacks and water efficiency measures, said it was possible to find middle ground.

"There's a bit of political management going on here, that people are going to lose their water, the government's going to come along and take their water," he said.

"If you look at the detail, the processes and the money trail there's a way of achieving a win-win outcome ... without any entitlement cut at all."

Former prime minister John Howard had started the process to heal the Murray-Darling in 2007, he said.

"The worst thing that can happen here is to create uncertainty. The victims will be the people of Griffith and the South Australians," Mr Windsor said.

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