I have grave concerns that Mick Keelty, who is conducting a review of water resource management in the Murray-Darling Basin, has a few facts wrong.
During questioning from Senator Roberts at Senate estimates in early March, Mr Keelty said that people are living with the consequences of their strategic business decisions about water markets.
I would in particular like to highlight his comments that “general security licence holders who at one point in time were offered, under the NSW regime, the opportunity to convert to high security but chose not to because at the time there was almost a guaranteed 50 or 47 per cent of availability for entitlement”.
This is totally inaccurate.
Firstly, there was only a very small window of about three months for people to take up the offer, there was a program limit to 50 000 megalitres which could be converted and it only applied if the water was to be used for horticulture.
Secondly, it was offered before the millennium drought kicked in, when allocations for general security below 80 per cent were unheard of.
The offer left out the majority of people in the Murray Valley who are responsible for the production of annual staple food crops and products.
Food producers in the Murray Valley have had no wins.
If they kept their permanent entitlements they are facing the third year in a row with no water, and if they sold them to rely on the temporary market they can’t afford the water.
Mr Keelty, the southern connected system has had a kick in the guts and the Murray Valley in particular has always been the fall guy.
It is time for you to expose this mess.