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Murray Darling Basin CEO’s establish group to lobby government

CEO’s from five major commodity sectors have formed a group to address issues surrounding the ongoing implementation of the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

The Ricegrowers’ Association of Australia (RGA) Executive Director Dean Logan said, “Over the last two weeks I’ve met with and discussed concerns regarding the Murray Darling Basin Plan process with CEOs across five major commodity sectors equating to tens of billions of dollars of investment. The overwhelming response? Policy makers, families, communities and farmers alike deserve a much more constructive, mature and less emotive debate that ultimately leads to real solutions being placed on the table.”

In his meetings with CEO’s, Logan discussed the need for and policy and institutional reform.

The group is concerned the Senate Inquiry will not deliver the outcome needed, as solutions require both State and Federal Government cooperation and political buy-in. In response to the challenges facing the area, the Logan said it is now up to the group “to stand united to help Government deliver social, environmental and economic certainty and reform.”

“A key point we are raising as basin CEO’s is that while social, economic and environmental decline is measured in decades not years, we must look forward positively when seeking to address reform,” Logan said.

“What shouldn’t be missed is that amongst all this so called ‘turmoil’ the rice industry alone, six weeks ago, delivered growers and basin communities an additional $40M of income on top of last year’s crop returns. This is a positive story that demands a more constructive debate when moving forward and working through concerns.

“As CEOs we all agree change is needed and we won’t walk away from a fight, but the Murray Darling Basin is at a critical juncture that demands leadership and calm heads to prevail.

“It is vital we maintain a sense of bipartisanship and inter-jurisdictional leadership and dialogue. We must, this time, get this right. We stand committed with Government – of all persuasions – to do whatever it takes,” Logan said.

The basin group of CEOs will be formalised over the next two weeks. The initiative has been discussed with senior policy makers and leaders at both the State and Federal level and will be officially launched in Sydney.

 

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