Natalie Akers likes to measure water in units of ‘Sydney Harbours’ because that is the scale she says is required to understand the size of the Federal Government’s water buyback scheme.
The Tallygaroopna dairy farmer said she was once asked how much 500Gl of water was.
“I worked it out and told him that it was the equivalent of one Sydney Harbour,” Mrs Akers said.
Water buybacks are the target of the public awareness campaign Food Needs Water! which was launched in Shepparton on Thursday, November 16.
Mrs Akers helped launch the campaign which is supported by all northern Victorian local governments and has been sponsored by farmers and food processors.
The national buyback scheme is currently seeking to remove a further 750Gl from the southern basin.
“Farmers have already given back four Sydney Harbours to the river system and now the government wants another one-and-a-half.
“Common sense would tell you that you just can’t keep taking water.”
The campaign celebrates the importance of water in food production in northern Victorian component of the Murray-Darling Basin and the risk that buybacks bring to the local industry.
Committee for Greater Shepparton CEO Linda Nieuwenhuizen said the government’s response to recent changes in the buyback legislation was crucial.
“The whole purpose of what we are doing is to make sure that members of parliament who are making decisions on this legislation understand there will be flow-on consequences from the policies they adopt,” Ms Nieuwenhuizen said.
“Using something like buybacks as the tool for the river ecosystem is not the smartest way to move ahead on achieving outcomes for the environment and the local economy.
“And a large part of that is because Victoria has been so effective in filling its obligations under the buyback plan to date.”
Food Needs Water! is based on an interactive website that represents food production in each local government area in northern Victoria that feeds into the basin.
Mrs Akers said the key to the website was a large blue button which visitors were asked to click with each visit to grow awareness of the importance of water in food.
“You can then click on each local government area and visually see what products are made and then see a dollar output for each industry in that local government area,” Mrs Akers said.
“We are hoping to get lots of clicks to raise awareness.”
Popular community campaigner and well-known journalist Charles Wooley has contributed to the campaign and will feature in a series of television commercials from Sunday evening.
Further information and the blue button can be found at: foodneedswater.com.au