By Alex McConachie
THE viability of the federal government's plan to return an additional 450 gigalitres to the Murray-Darling Basin, with no plans for compulsory buybacks or efficiency measures set out, is at the whim of irrigators.
And if farmers don't want to play ball with the government then it is difficult to see how the 450GL can be returned to the basin, a point Mr Windsor admits.Independent MP and chair of the Regional Australia Committee Tony Windsor said participating in the plan, which will cost $1.7 billion, would be voluntary for irrigators, raising questions over its viability.
"If people don't want to be more efficient in their irrigating they don't have to," he said.
Mr Windsor was optimistic that farmers would take up the option of having efficiency measures implemented.
"If you could shift from flood irrigation to drip or spray irrigation there are a lot more benefits with ... using less water," he said.
But Griffith-based broadacre farmer Chint Quarisa believes irrigators won't go for it and efficiency measures presented a raw deal.
He believes that the government plans to achieve their targets by forcing irrigators into "voluntary" buyback schemes."A lot of people who have gone to drip irrigation regret the day they did it," he said. "Especially grape and orange growers, because their electricity costs are skyrocketing while their sale prices are dropping."
"It's deceitful of (Water Minister) Tony Burke to call these people willing sellers," he said. "When they say willing sellers, these are people caught by the financial scruff of the neck and they have no choice but to sell assets to keep the bank at bay."
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