Natalie Akers, Federal Shadow Water Minister Ross Cadell, Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell, City of Greater Shepparton Deputy Mayor Geoff Akers and the Akers’ dogs Mack and Misty.
Photo by
Djembe Archibald
Federal Shadow Water Minister Ross Cadell visited the Goulburn Valley following the Federal Government’s decision to increase Murray-Darling Basin water buybacks.
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Mr Cadell joined Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell at Geoff and Natalie Akers’ dairy farm in Tallygaroopna, where they discussed the implications of the buyback expansion, stalled environmental works, and national climate policy.
Mr Birrell said the additional buybacks would further reduce the volume of water available for production.
“This is water that is used to grow milk, fruit, employ hundreds, thousands of people across basin communities, and it’s been bought back for questionable environmental purposes,” he said.
“We’ve already had the Goulburn-Broken Catchment Management Authority say that they can’t use the water they’ve already got for environmental purposes.
“This whole region exists and the prosperity of this region is based on reliable irrigation.”
Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell with Shadow Water Minister Ross Cadell.
Photo by
Djembe Archibald
Mr Cadell said buybacks were being used instead of complementary recovery measures such as weir upgrades and fish passages.
“The department and the minister don’t want to do the complementary measures. They just want to sign a cheque and buy water back,” he said.
He questioned whether the new buybacks were connected to broader political negotiations, including the government’s environmental law reforms.
“Communities deserve to be better than pawns in a game of politics,” he said.
City of Greater Shepparton Deputy Mayor and farmer Geoff Akers said the long-term effects of buybacks were visible across the region.
“Once again, there’s less water going to be available,” he said.
“We’re seeing fewer people in communities, fewer kids in schools, football clubs closing down. It’s having a big impact.”
Mr Cadell also addressed the Coalition’s approach to emissions policy.
He said the Opposition supported reducing emissions, but rejected what he described as the “net-zero cult”, arguing current federal policy had increased energy costs without achieving actual reductions.
“This has cost billions of dollars and thousands of your dollars,” Mr Cadell said.
He said the Coalition would pursue what it considered a “cheaper, better, fairer” approach that would maintain industrial capacity while delivering measurable reductions.
Federal Shadow Water Minister Ross Cadell with Federal Member for Nicholls Sam Birrell.
Photo by
Djembe Archibald
Mr Birrell said a lack of transparency around buybacks and delayed environmental projects was limiting confidence, as shown in the recent Basin Community Values survey report.
“What we’re seeing right across the entire catchment area is a low confidence,” he said.
“There’s low transparency of what's going on.
“What you’re doing is destroying communities with this.”
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