Water

Water policy in Australia has lost its way. Country towns are paying the price.

We know every decision made in Canberra has real life impacts on farmers, irrigators, towns and families. Regional people have had to live with uncertainty in water policy for too long.

The Nationals have clear rules for water policy in the Murray-Darling Basin. They make sure future choices support farmers and country towns. They protect the long term health of our river systems.

The Nationals in Government will:

• End further cuts to the water for farming, jobs and useful work. This means no more buybacks. No more water recovery by changes to regulations and rules.
• Lift the water set aside for farmers, towns and businesses. Deliver a future for basin towns. Make sure no further cuts.
• Reform the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. Return spare water back to the pool. Let farmers, towns and businesses use it at lower prices.

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is not just a green project. It is the operation of our food bowl. It backs billions in farm output. It supports whole towns.

Under Labor, blunt and harsh policy has come back. They are taking water out of the system through buybacks and water recovery by stealth. That drives up prices. It hollows out country towns.

Under a Nationals Government there will be no further cuts to useful water.

We will lift the consumptive pool. A growing nation with rising food needs cannot afford to shrink its food base.

We will reform the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder. Water will be used well. Any spare will go back to the system. That lowers water costs and helps towns.

We are not walking away from the Basin Plan or ignoring green outcomes. We want them done right. The current way is not working. Green outcomes are being chased at the cost of country towns. Water buybacks are taking water out of useful work. They are pushing up prices. They are eroding trust. We will end water buybacks.

The socio-economic impacts of water policy change must extend beyond the farm gate to the towns, schools, shops, logistic companies and workers that live in the ecosystem.

We support a practical reset. One that invests in basics. One that lifts efficiency. One that brings back balance between green needs and the reality on the ground. Without that balance, we don’t get healthy rivers. We get empty towns.