Murray Darling plan will hurt agriculture: Mirabella

Federal Member for Indi, Sophie Mirabella, has condemned the announcement made by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Water Minister Penny Wong regarding Water and the Murray Darling Basin.

“The announcement that the government will spend $3.1 billion on water entitlement buybacks will cut agricultural production and lead to dramatic hikes in the cost of basic food items”

“Its all well and good for the Prime Minister and his water Minister to hop on their high horse and sprout nonsense to the cameras, but when the going gets tough the announcement made by the Minister today isn’t any new news” Mrs Mirabella said

“Minister Wong’s decision to buy $3.1 billion of water entitlements from so called “willing sellers” guarantees that communities currently living in the worst drought in living memory will go from a natural drought to a Rudd made drought” Mrs Mirabella said

“This is a short-sighted and irresponsible rebadging of the Coalition’s national plan for the Murray Darling Basin. By culling the funding for on-farm efficiency upgrades that was central to the Coalitions plan, the Rudd Government is jeopardising agricultural production and destroying out future food productivity capabilities,”

“In the Minister’s own supporting notes with her media release the Minister concludes that cities with over 50,000 people or more will benefit. But Labor has always been for some reason ideologically opposed to investing in rural communities and our farmers,” Mrs Mirabella said

“The Minister’s announcement also lacks substantial detail, so families across the country have the right to be very fearful that the Rudd Government won’t release the fine details, particularly regarding their plans when it comes to the Murray Darling Basin”

“The truth of the matter is Mr Rudd and Ms Wong are up to their elbows in secrecy and political spin, and issues like Water and the Murray Darling basin are too significant and too vital when it comes to our nation’s future, to have a government that isn’t taking the issue seriously”

“At a time when millions of people all over the world are starving we have a moral responsibility to increase food production, not decrease it,” Mrs Mirabella concluded