There's been plenty of reaction over the Murray-Darling Basin Authority's (MDBA) draft plan. Environmentalists are unhappy, irrigators are angry and conservationists aren't too happy either. Here's some of what they had to say.
NSW:
- NSW's Primary Industries Minister Katrina Hodgkinson says she will begin a regional tour to discuss the plan with affected communities. She says that the commonwealth is serious about NSW's submission.
However, she questioned about whether the plan had given equal weight to the economic, social and environmental goals and whether it met her concerns about equity between the states.
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- NSW Farmers' Association CEO Matt Brand says the new plan still fails to properly assess the impact of the cutback on businesses, families in the region and food production.
Victoria:
- Victorian Water Minister Peter Walsh says Farming communities in Victoria's north will be hit hard by the plan to revitalise the ailing Murray-Darling Basin river system and says the state's dairy farmers will pay a heavy price.
South Australia:
- Fishers, farmers, winemakers, traditional owners and environmentalists say the draft Murray-Darling Basin plan will fail South Australia.
- The plan's failure to address the over-allocation of upstream irrigators means there is virtually no chance of restoring Australia's food bowl to health, Wilderness Society spokesman Peter Owen says.
The Independent: Independent Senator Nick Xenophon says he will work with the South Australian government on a possible High Court challenge to the draft Murray-Darling Basin plan.
Opposition:
- Opposition Leader Tony Abbott says farmers and businesses in the Murray-Darling Basin face an uncertain future because of government mismanagement.
"The failure to end the over-allocation by big irrigation means the mouth of the Murray will continue to close, it won't remove the two million tonnes of salt that gets deposited every year, and it will destroy internationally recognised Ramsar wetlands," he said.
- Opposition water spokesman Barnaby Joyce said the draft plan lacked details in how the water would turn up. "We need to find out why two-thirds of the water they have to get is under this mysterious X-factor," he told ABC Radio. The government and the authority were shirking their responsibility, he said.
Greens:
- The Australian Greens say the draft plan still overlooks environmental needs, fails to tackle the problems of over-allocation and risks becoming a multi-billion dollar flop.
"This plan, unless it is modified to deliver more returns to the environment, will fail to save the river and the species that rely on it," Greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
- The Australian Greens say the coal seam gas (CSG) industry is set to secure millions of litres of groundwater from the Murray-Darling Basin at the expense of the environment.
Conservationists:
- Stewart Ellis from the National Irrigators Council says the draft is a fraud and, if adopted, will result in thousands of jobs being lost, an increase in food prices and communities being shut down.
He says it fails to acknowledge that over 2.1 million megalitres of water entitlements have been recovered from irrigators in the past seven years.
- Voices for the Murray-Darling, which is made up of various groups including the Australian Conservation Foundation and Friends of the Earth, says the authority's scientific calculations are murky and the plan fails to properly consider the risks of climate change.
