The Commonwealth Government has ripped up the previously agreed Murray-Darling Basin Plan and has replaced it with one that suits Canberra. As a consequence, they plan to take up to 225GL of water from agricultural production in Northern Victoria, which would see $111 million in lost food production value each year.
The Commonwealth Government is blind to the impact these water buybacks will have on communities across Northern Victoria. There is great risk for the 21,000 jobs on farms across the region, and the 16,000 jobs in the food processing and manufacturing sectors.
The VFF is encouraging regional Victorians to make sure their voices are heard by Canberra. We encourage you to write to federal politicians to make them aware of the value of water to food production in your community. A template letter is provided here which we encourage you to use.