Firstly, I applaud the Benalla and Strathbogie councils for taking action to tackle climate change and I encourage both state and federal governments to do the same, but the best way to protect the flora and fauna of Strathbogie Forest and the people in surrounding communities from climate change is not to lock up the forest and passively manage it.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change referred to in the letter has recognised that a sustainable forest management strategy that produces an annual sustained yield of timber, and uses actively growing regrowth forests to sequester carbon dioxide through photosynthesis and so add to forest carbon stocks, rather than relying entirely on fossil fuel intensive alternatives such as aluminium, concrete and steel, and coal or petroleum-based fuels, will generate the largest sustained climate change mitigation benefit.
The best way to protect the Strathbogie and all other Victorian native forests is to continue to actively manage them as they have been for thousands of years by our indigenous people who used fire to help provide food, shelter and security from summer wildfires.
The high standard of forest science employed in the planning, implementation and regulation of timber harvesting by VicForests in the Strathbogies may not be appreciated by those who see the cutting down of any native tree as some sort of crime against the environment.
The presence of an equipped, skilled and motivated timber industry workforce in actively managed forests is also the best resource we can have to combat serious forest fires, which will continue to occur even if we could fix climate change tomorrow.
— Ross Runnalls
Benalla
Basin plan objectives have failed
The fundamental objectives of the Intergovernmental Agreement on Implementing Water Reform in the Murray-Darling Basin (June 2013) were to ensure improved “river and wetland health, put water use on a sustainable footing, enhancing irrigation productivity, providing water for critical human needs and providing farmers and communities with more confidence to plan for a future with less water”.
Eight years later politicians and bureaucrats alike fail to acknowledge that Murray-Darling Basin Plan policies are destroying sustainability in the Murray-Darling Basin.
River health in the four major river systems has declined due to excessive flows being pushed downstream. This has caused bank slumping and erosion, loss of mature red gums, sediment build-up within river channels and carp proliferation, none of which have been extensively investigated, or documented, by the government agency charged with implementing the basin plan, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
Now that the Commonwealth and state environmental water holders own and store such vast volumes of water, the full extent of the impact of basin plan policies on irrigated agricultural production and subsequently the nation’s food security is exposed.
Irrigation productivity has not been enhanced, nor do farmers and communities have any confidence in their ability to plan for the future. Far from it, with Murray NSW irrigators still receiving low allocation despite Murray and Murrumbidgee storages being at almost full capacity.
Goulburn Murray Irrigation District irrigators face rising debt from the inability of customers to pay for delivery shares left when environmental water was pulled out of the region, leaving behind the burden of all delivery shares.
Unmetered floodplain harvesting in the northern basin continues unabated, reducing the Darling/Barka for many years to zero flows.
Irrigators have been sucked dry by buybacks and environmental water acquisitions and open market water trade policies that have seen water prices soar.
The basin plan mantra of providing “improved water security for all” is a sick joke and politicians who believe the basin plan is successfully achieving its objectives are deluded.
It is imperative that the basin plan is reviewed and revised immediately.
— Jan Beer
Yea
Election can make a difference
The Murray Irrigation Limited election process has been interesting, to say the least.
When I successfully stood for the board in 2018 I knew it would be a steep learning curve as I became more familiar with the operations of the company and how it serves the shareholders.
However, as I have unfortunately discovered, at present MIL is not a company that puts its shareholders ‘first and foremost’.
The current structure of the board has a balance that, in my view, does not prioritise the actions and advocacy that are required to maximise the water allocation for our region’s farmers, and I believe that is what the majority of shareholders want from their board.
However, it will not take much for that balance to change, and this is why I am standing on a joint ticket with Lachlan Marshall in this MIL election.
I believe Lachlan and myself, with support from other like-minded shareholder directors, will have an opportunity to focus on returning reliable and affordable water to the NSW Murray.
I fully appreciate that this will not be easy to achieve. However, for the sake of our futures and those of our children and grandchildren, we cannot allow the present contraction of our resource to continue without putting up a fight.
I encourage shareholders, when casting your votes, to give Lachlan and myself the support we need so we can work towards returning true shareholder representation to the MIL board.
— Waander Van Beek
Finley, NSW
18°C