AgForce is providing further input into a review of the national framework that guides water planning and usage, to promote agriculture's interests.
It follows an initial submission to the government's Productivity Commission (PC) made in August 2020, supporting potential changes to the National Water Initiative.
We have also endorsed and contributed to the National Farmers Federation submission on the same issue.
Emphasis is on:
- Prioritising water usage for grazing livestock
- Protecting the security of existing water property rights
- Affordable water pricing principles
- Cost-effective planning and regulation that also protects the privacy of users
We also support the inclusion of mineral and petroleum industries in water access entitlement and planning arrangements, to ensure transparency without compromising the opportunity for agricultural uses.
We opposed greater integration of water and broader catchment management activities where this involves inefficient or complex doubling up of regulations, as we saw with the repealed Wild Rivers legislation.
