It's been a busy month for the Mayor and General Manager in the water advocacy space. While still generally supportive of the intent of the original Basin Plan, Council remains concerned about the way it's being rolled out – especially since the passing of the Restoring Our Rivers legislation in January 2024. Restoring Our Rivers sees a further 450GL of water being pursued for recovery from the productive pool and, worryingly, with the requirement for proper socio-economic neutrality testing now removed. These legislative changes mean the Federal Water Minister needs to only 'consider' the socio-economic impacts not ensure they are neutral and, to date, those impacts relate to prices at the farm gate only, not the broader impacts on towns and regions.
Council's concerns have been heightened by the recent, early call for tenders by the Federal government for 70GL of voluntary buybacks in the Southern Basin, well before any promises of community consultation, co-design and cooperation have been honoured and without any clarity about what alternative solutions to buybacks are being actively pursued. Further, it is understood that Federal Water Minister, the Hon Tanya Plibersek, is planning two more rounds of buybacks in 2025, front loading the direct recovery of water.
