The Nationals Member for Rodney Paul Weller has criticised the Brumby Government over a lack of communication with irrigators affected by the Northern Victorian Irrigation Renewal Project (NVIRP).
In State Parliament yesterday, Mr Weller said the government was more interested in wasting money on misleading advertising campaigns about the project, than liaising with farmers.
He said Goulburn-Murray Water irrigators located on non-backbone channels were living in fear that they would not be connected to the reconfigured system.
“Irrigators are becoming increasingly worried about their future due to a lack of communication from NVIRP.
“I have had calls to my office from irrigators located between five, 10 and 15 kilometres from the backbone channels who have not yet been informed by NVIRP how and when they will be connected to the channel system.”
Mr Weller said some of Victoria’s most efficient irrigators were on non-backbone channels, yet they faced being shut down by the Brumby Government.
“If the government had any compassion and respect for these irrigators it would have insisted that NVIRP be out talking to these farmers well before now, discussing options and finding solutions to connect them to the system,” he said.
“Instead, the Brumby Government is wasting valuable resources by spending millions of dollars on misleading advertising.
“The advertisements running right across Victoria at the present time claim that 425 megalitres could be saved through the irrigation upgrades, when in fact last year the system only lost 350 megalitres.
“Using the government’s very own figures, last year the savings across the whole system would only have been 200,000 megalitres.
“Given that savings generated by reconfiguration and the upgrade of Shepparton District and Central Goulburn 1234 were committed well before NVIRP began, the actual savings generated by NVIRP in a year similar to last year would have been only 105,000 megalitres, not 425,000 megalitres.”
Mr Weller said the Brumby Government should be directing money towards working with irrigators on solutions to their channel connections rather than wasting it on dishonest advertising campaigns as it was presently doing.
Media contact: Leonie Canham (03) 5482 2039
