Disgruntled farmers and irrigators will march on Federal Water Minister Tanya Plibersek’s Sydney office on Thursday, September 14.
The rally is being organised to protest the plans by the Federal Government to buy back up to 450 Gl of water for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
NSW State Member for Murray Helen Dalton, the National Farmers’ Federation, Southern Riverina Irrigators and NSW Irrigators Council are behind the rally.
They plan to meet at Sydney’s Central Rail Station at 9am and then walk to Ms Plibersek’s office in Redfern.
Ms Dalton said Ms Plibersek was like a “rural wrecking ball”.
“Federal Labor is about to drive up food costs for everyone while also driving more and more farmers off the land,“ she said.
Ms Dalton, as well as farm and community groups, are warning that the new federal plan will push up food prices in staples like milk, orange juice, potatoes, apples, eggs, tomatoes and meat.
Committee for Greater Shepparton chief executive officer Linda Linda Nieuwenhuizen said it was basic economics that reduced supply means higher prices for water in every season, which means higher prices for producers of supermarket staples, higher costs of production for Australian food processors and manufacturers, and higher prices for Australian consumers.
“Younger Australians are already telling us they don’t believe they can afford a house, who wants to tell them they may not be able to afford Australian grown produce?” Ms Nieuwenhuizen said.
The National Irrigators’ Council said there had been no assessment of the impact of the costs of buybacks on the national economy and the resulting impact on rural communities.
VFF Water Council chair Andrew Leahy said the changes fly in the face of how the critical river system has been managed for years.
“This move tears up the agreement made by basin states over 10 years ago and is trying to re-write history on what the basin plan actually is,” Mr Leahy said.
“These changes have not been discussed with all basin states in the same room. There is no intergovernmental agreement and this entire process has been a shameful divide and conquer approach by the Commonwealth.
“Tanya Plibersek has torn up the agreed basin plan and while doing so, has destroyed over 100 years of cooperative management of the Murray River and trashed the reputation of the once trusted and world-leading Murray-Darling Basin Authority.”
Ms Plibersek introduced legislation into Federal Parliament on Wednesday, September 6 to amend the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, with the support of most states except Victoria.
However, the Greens Party is opposed to the revised plan, seeking guarantees that the 450 Gl will be delivered as soon as possible.