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Planning our basin future together

23 June 2024

Victorian Government
Planning our basin future together

The Committee for Greater Shepparton (C4GS) welcomes the opportunity to comment on the Planning our Basin Future Together Prospectus.


About C4GS

C4GS is an apolitical, member funded not-for-profit organisation that represents almost 120 businesses, Government agencies and not-for-profit organisations from across the local government areas of Greater Shepparton, Moira and Campaspe.


C4GS also supports the GMID Water Leadership Forum and works in partnership with the Forum to provide considered and constructive input into the design and delivery of water policy in and for our region.


Our members represent all points of the primary production, manufacturing, logistics, warehousing, construction and export supply chains, their support industries as well as regional health, education and service providers.


Response to the Prospectus

During 2023, C4GS made multiple submissions and presentations to the MDBA, Australian Productivity Commission, as well as Victorian and Federal Government inquiries. We are pleased to see many of our views and recommendations reflected in the Prospectus.


The Principles for further water recovery in Victoria

C4GS acknowledges the principles provide high level guidance for water recovery in Victoria.


Recommendation 1 - C4GS recommends Principle 3 – Proactive structural change to support a sustainable future for industries, irrigators and communities be expanded to recognise that the diversity and scale of local primary production is critical to viability.


For example, the dairy industry’s growing ability to flex in and out of irrigation is key to water resources being available to sustain permanent plantings and seasonal crops. Maintaining the mix and balance of needs is key to region’s resilience.


Recommendation 2 - C4GS recommends Principle 2 – Proactive structural change to support a sustainable future for irrigators and communities be expanded to explicitly reference industries and supply chains.


For example, there are more than 50 manufacturing and processing sites located in the ‘value adding’ precinct bounded by Shepparton, Stanhope, Echuca and Cobram. As illustrated in the diagram below these sites range from niche operators to iconic Australian brands and world leading companies such as Noumi, SPC, Unilever, Fonterra, Kagome, Simplot, Bega, Saputo, and Campbells Soups.


These sites

• Process production from multiple Victorian catchments and regions,

• Process production from across the Murray Darling Basin,

• Supply 10-15% of milk into NSW and Queensland, and

• Are a major source of container exports out of the Port of Melbourne,


Alongside these industries are metal fabricators, other manufacturing, construction, engineering, freight and export businesses – and all a linked in some way to primary production within the Murray-Darling Basin.

These sites and businesses provide significant local employment - approximately three jobs for every job on farm.


We recognise the catchment-by-catchment approach may work well for irrigation networks and irrigators however it does not easily align with local industries’ supplier/customer footprint.

To fully understand the risk to regional employment and economic activity, and hence to calculate the full scale of community adjustment support that may be required, industry must be engaged in a manner that recognises its geography and the threats to its viability that may result from the structural adjustment (contraction) of irrigated agriculture.


Future Engagement processes

C4GS welcomes the Victorian Government commitment to ongoing engagement with impacted communities, but we remain concerned by the deadlines that our now ‘hard wired’ into the federal legislation.


In preparing our submission, C4GS convened a meeting of more than 20 members at which representatives of DEECA walked through the Prospectus and we were able to discuss the proposed next steps. The meeting included representatives from

  • major corporate and family farms,

  • processing and manufacturing,

  • finance and banking,

  • fertiliser and seed,

  • freight and warehousing,

  • town planning and

  • irrigation design, engineering and construction businesses.


The forum provided a valuable opportunity to inform and equip members to engage in discussions with their customers, suppliers and communities, and to contemplate future involvement and ideas.


In our experience our members are extremely well networked within their local communities and industries, have the confidence and influence to shape on the ground conversations, and their cross-industry representation is invaluable to understanding challenges and designing solutions that work.


It is our view that working with our membership may assist in better understanding and aligning water and non-water drivers and opportunities, to achieve a strong future for the region, support local upstream and downstream industry planning and adjustment, and provide options for irrigators, communities and the region that may not exist within the scope of water-only discussions.


For example, during our discussions about the prospect of water buybacks and the notion of willing sellers, there has been frequent reference to the number of distressed sellers that may exist in the GMID at any point in time because of non-water issues. For example, the challenges described in the recent ACCC investigation of pricing and competition in the supermarket sector, or individual factors such as future capital investment needs and succession planning.


Managing consultation fatigue and aligning opportunities

At the time of writing this submission, C4GS (on behalf of and in partnership with members) is responding to a range of government consultations:

  • VicGrid – transmission and renewable energy zones

  • PlanVic – reimagining the future of our cities, suburbs, towns and regions

  • Victorian Freight Plan - update

  • Apprenticeships incentives review (Federal)

  • Review of Regional Migration settings (Federal)


We endeavour to keep our members informed, provide meaningful opportunities to feed their insights and ideas into the consultation processes, and manage the consultation demands on members across the region.


Many of these consultation programs will inform decisions that involve significant public funding and planning for major public infrastructure. Ideally there will be opportunity to optimise the combination of plans and investments – and minimise opportunities lost through suboptimal coordination, communication – and consultation fatigue.


Recommendation 3 - C4GS recommends and extends an open invite for DEECA and the Victorian Government to work with C4GS to facilitate a program of engagement with our membership and specific sub-sets of members alongside the engagement with irrigators and local communities.


Conclusion

This submission does not restate our fundamental objection to the amendments to the Murray Darling Basin Plan that were approved by the Federal Parliament last year. We have presented these on numerous occasions, and we are pleased to see many of our views reflected in the Prospectus.


Instead, we have focused on providing feedback on the Prospectus’ principles for water recovery, and we have provided ideas to support more complete, timely and ongoing engagement with local industry who are valued and knowledgeable employers and corporate citizens in our region.


We have also highlighted the other government consultations underway that will have implications for investment, land use, workforce and industry activity.


C4GS recognises irrigation and water policy in and for our region is fundamental to our region’s prosperity and confidence. We welcome the opportunity to work with the Victorian Government and DEECA to facilitate engagement and to support our region, and governments at all levels to navigate sensible next steps for the MDB Plan in our region and for our communities and natural environment.


We look forward to the opportunity to discuss our submission in further detail.



Office:

144 Welsford Street,

Shepparton 3630

Mail:

PO Box 603

Shepparton 3632

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We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country and recognise their continuing connection to the land, water, air and sky; culture and community. We pay our respects to their Elders past and present.

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