Media Releases

The decision taken by Campaspe irrigators to close their system is another regrettable step in the winding down of irrigation in northern Victoria, according to Shadow Minister for Country Water Resources and Deputy Leader of The Nationals Peter Walsh.
Mr Walsh said after years of poor allocations, 70 per cent of irrigators voted to decommission the system at a meeting in Rochester last night.
“This is a distressing day for the region, but I respect the decision taken by those who have endured years of drought and hardship,” Mr Walsh said.
“The Campaspe system has been impacted upon by drought and poor government water policy.
“The closure of the system underlines the utter folly of Labor’s decision to augment Melbourne’s water supplies with water from northern Victoria.
“The Brumby Government is looting water from northern Victoria for Melbourne at a time when farming families are being forced to leave the land due to a lack of water.”
Mr Walsh warned the government against claiming water savings from closing the Campaspe system and adding them to the ‘savings’ it purported to have made through the Food Bowl Modernisation Project.
“These savings cannot be claimed as real and taken to Melbourne because the system hasn’t run for the best part of five years,” Mr Walsh said.
“The Brumby Government based modelling for future inflows into Melbourne’s catchments on the average of the last three years being the norm in the future.
“By the same logic, there are no savings to be made from closure of the Campaspe system. You can’t save something from nothing,” Mr Walsh said.
The Nationals Member for Rodney Paul Weller said his greatest concern was for the future of those involved.
“The loss of this water is going to have long-term economic implications for Rochester in particular, which relies heavily on agricultural industries,” Mr Weller said.
“It’s vital that the government assists Campaspe irrigators wishing to connect to the Goulburn system so there’s no disruption to their business.
“The government must reduce any red tape and streamline the process so irrigators can continue with the important task of food production,” Mr Weller said.