The Federal Government has dealt another blow to the southern New South Wales food-bowl with its latest purchase of almost 86 billion litres of water in June 2026 at a cost of $430M to taxpayers.
Leeton's Mayor, Cr George Weston, says he is exasperated by the Labor party's disingenuous engagement with local Basin communities who are bearing the brunt of the Water Minister's needless water buybacks.
"It is hugely frustrating as we are all aiming for the same thing - a healthier natural environment - but Senator Murray Watt persists with bulldozing through buybacks that will see jobs lost and economies devastated when there are much smarter options available to achieve environmental goals.
"Minister Watt is not listening and conveniently ignores his own government's facts, trots out practiced and paternalistic half-truths, and makes very sure he's never available to genuinely engage with communities that are suffering under his decisions.
"He hides in Canberra and, when he does front up, he stands behind a microphone instead of genuinely listening," said Mayor Weston.
As recently as yesterday (22 June), at a local government forum in Parliament House, Minister Watt defended the recent buybacks saying the Basin Plan enjoys bipartisan support and has always included the recovery of 450GL.
Mayor Weston says this is simply not true.
"Under the 2012 Basin Plan, the 450GL 'upwater' was only supposed to be recovered if it was socio-economically neutral. Labor changed that in 2023 by amending the legislation - removing proper socio-economic testing - and they certainly did not have bipartisan support either.
"In fact, even the NSW Labor government doesn't support the Federal Water Minister's buybacks as they know it is devastating local communities, yet Senator Murray Watt continues with the furphy that his policy enjoys broad political support."
Mayor Weston is not alone, with Mayors from across the Riverina Murray deeply disappointed that Labor has pressed ahead with buybacks despite the MDBA's best available science (released in February) demonstrating the 450GL will deliver little to no additional environmental benefit over the more than 3000GL already recovered since 2000.
"Much of the extra water the Federal Government has bought (380GL of the 450GL target) cannot even be delivered, which makes these buybacks even more irresponsible," said Mayor Weston.
"Imagine knowing that yet still persisting with a policy decision that is costing taxpayers billions of dollars and will see hundreds of rural jobs lost without actually fixing the environment!
"In our Shire, for example, we have 8 value-adding jobs for every 1 farm job in rice. Destroying real jobs to pursue needless water recovery is ideological madness," he said.
Mayor Weston believes it's time for the Finance Minister Kate Gallagher and Treasurer Jim Chalmers to honestly and holistically investigate the cost-benefit of these additional buybacks on Australian taxpayers.
He is also calling on the Prime Minister to honour his election promise to regional Australia - "no one held back, no one left behind" - by immediately stopping any further buybacks and engaging genuinely and directly with Basin Mayors from irrigation communities that feed the nation.
"The Government is spending billions of dollars acquiring water that cannot be effectively delivered to achieve its intended environmental outcomes. Worse, this spending is destroying rural economies. This is neither sound policy nor responsible stewardship of taxpayers' money. We call on the Prime Minister to show that he really cares before large numbers of Basin jobs are lost under his watch and billions of taxpayer dollars are needlessly spent."
