Buyback concerns voiced at National Farmers Rally

Thousands of farmers converged on Parliament House on Tuesday for the National Farmers Rally.

Water buybacks were placed firmly in the spotlight, with concerns voiced about the impact the measure will have on basin communities, including the Namoi Valley.

Among those in attendance was Nationals Senator Perin Davey who said recently released results of the previous buyback show the government has in some cases paid 200 per cent over the going market rate for water products while the cost to the local communities is ignored.

“Back in 2021, analysis conducted by Marsden Jacobs estimated the cost to recover the extra 450GL water via infrastructure would be between $3.4 billion to $10.8 billion dependent on product type,” she explained.

“Fast forward to today and those estimates are behind current market rates which the government via its first water tender has paid on average 20-30 per cent premium on water it has purchased, and in the case of the Namoi up to 200 per cent.

“Taxpayers will need to find billions of extra dollars under Labor’s single solution Murray Darling Basin plan.

“At the same time, farmers and their communities are crying out against the buybacks which they see are undermining their regional economic viability.”

Federal Member for Parkes Mark Coulton, who was also in attendance, said organisers were calling for sensible changes including scrapping the truckie tax, scrapping new taxes for biosecurity and superannuation, scrapping water buybacks in the Murray-Darling Basin and protecting the Great Artesian Basin, scrapping unnecessary red tape from emissions reporting, known as Scope 3, and scrapping reckless renewables which will rip up prime agricultural land, protecting the 88-day backpacker visa, as well as overturning the decision to ban live sheep exports by sea.

“These requests are common sense solutions and without changes, Labor will make farming unviable,” he said.

“The National Farmer Rally is the biggest in a generation – it has been more than 40 years since farmers have had to march on Parliament House because a federal government has made them feel so aggrieved.

Peak agricultural groups were also represented at the rally in Canberra.

The National Irrigators Council has also previously hit back at the government for rushing into buybacks.

The council’s chief executive officer, Zara Lowien, of Bellata, was also in attendance. Mrs Lowien previously said rushing into buybacks will have the most negative impacts on
communities and drive-up water prices. The region’s peak water body, Namoi Water, has also voiced concerns about the impact of buybacks.

The state’s peak farming body, NSW Farmers, as well as state Member for Barwon Roy Butler were also part of Tuesday’s rally.

“The simple message was that the Australian federal parliament needs to listen to agriculture, farmers and industry, not just the loudest minorities. Everyone needs to be heard and their views considered,” Mr Butler said.