The Victorian Farmers Federation (VFF) has responded to the four percent exemption criteria released today by the Victorian Government saying that it will not alleviate the concerns of irrigators within the Goulburn Murray Irrigation District (GMID) or the challenges facing Northern Victorian farmers over the coming decades.

VFF Water Council Chairman Richard Anderson said the government had not heeded the concerns raised by the farming community and the VFF over the criteria’s impact on various industries and districts within the GMID.
 
“The VFF has communicated to the government our deep concerns over the closure of irrigation areas, backbone maps and exemption criteria. Further consultation and additional work should have been conducted before finalising these criteria,” Mr Anderson said.

The exemption criteria draws the boundaries between ‘yellow zones’ deemed less suitable for irrigation and exempt from the 4 percent rule and ‘green zones’ or areas with potential for future sustained irrigation and modernisation investment, which are outside of the 4 percent exemption zone.

“There is no doubt that the Commonwealth-Victorian agreement on the exemptions was originally aimed at aligning the Commonwealth’s environmental water purchase program with the GMID’s modernisation programs. However, the VFF is very concerned that these criteria have been released only two days before the commencement of the Commonwealth’s tender and have not provided any option for properties in green zoned areas that are facing financial hardship.”

“Allowing for an exemption of a small percentage of high reliability water entitlements in green zones where decommissioning can be facilitated would alleviate some of our concerns.”

“The VFF believes that allowing a percentage of high reliability water entitlements and 100 percent of low reliability water to be exempt from the 4 percent cap would provide a more equitable approach for entitlement holders facing significant hardship under current circumstances including those in green zones.”

“Exempting low reliability water from the cap will provide an alternative that will minimise the negative impact of loss of water from the GMID and increase affordability of irrigation into the future. This approach would protect investments in irrigation infrastructure, giving all irrigators more certainty.”

“In consultation with our members, the VFF is carefully considering the critical needs of irrigators to be able to make business decisions. The announced criteria, the Commonwealth’s approach to the new sustainable diversion limits, including risk assignment, and our long held views on the 4 percent cap will inform the VFF’s position moving forward,” Mr Anderson concluded.

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