Member for Barker Tony Pasin has hit back at the newly re-worked Murray Darling Basin Plan, labelling the changes to the plan as “extremely concerning” to river communities in SA.
The Federal Government on Tuesday announced that all but one basin state had signed onto a new agreement, which introduces voluntary water buybacks as a measure to reach the 450GL recovery target for SA.
Water Minister Susan Close said while they’ll monitor the progress closely, the State Government is thrilled with the move.
Pasin however says the Liberal party fought hard to keep buybacks off the table, saying they will destroy farming communities and their output.
“To put it simply, the water buyback policy is essentially a tax on the fruit, nuts, wine grapes, vegetables, rice, cotton, dairy and sugar grown in the basin, at a time when Australian’s can least afford it,” Mr Pasin said.
“This water is vital for basin communities, the local economies, and our national food security. Using buybacks to take water out of productive use will destroy jobs in our regions and add to cost of living pressures for all Australians.”
Listen below to Tony Pasin’s discussion regarding the new plan with Chris Guscott, as part of ARN‘s Around SA:
