VFF Water Council chair Andrew Leahy said the framework provided further proof that the Albanese Government was disinterested in the impact of water recovery on Victoria.
“Anthony Albanese and Tanya Plibersek have proven they don’t care about Victorian farming communities and environment,” Mr Leahy said.
“We are collateral damage in their tick-a-box exercise to deliver an arbitrary number in water recovery with no outcomes attached to it.
“They don’t care how much water they take, whether it can be delivered or where it’ll impact.
“Our invitation to Minister Plibersek inviting her to visit the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District has repeatedly fallen on deaf ears.”
The VFF emphasises the absence of Victorian agreement from the new draft framework.
“The VFF does not believe the Commonwealth has been behaving ethically or in good faith as evidenced by its decision to destroy over 100 years of collaborative management of the Murray River by proceeding without the agreement of Victoria,” the VFF submission to the draft report says.
And the VFF alleges the recovery of water breaches the ethical test.
“A socio-economic test was developed in 2018 and endorsed unanimously at Ministerial Council to ensure regional communities were protected by a recovery of the 450 Gl. This draft framework is designed to bypass the socio-economic test.”
The VFF wants to see modelling that establishes how extra water will enhance environmental outcomes.
The VFF points to a recommendation, from the Productivity Commission more than five years ago, that the Murray-Darling Basin Authority should comprehensively update and publish modelling to confirm, the enhanced environmental outcomes that can be achieved with additional water.
“It is the VFF position that no more water should be recovered for the environment until such time that environmental benefits of recovering additional water are demonstrated to be commensurate with the cost,” the submission states.
