Intended or unintended the consequences of Kevin Rudd & Penny Wongs Twynam 240 gig, $303 million water buyback are already emerging. From todays Australian Newspaper
Richard Haire
The head of Australia’s oldest cotton company, Richard Haire, said his Queensland Cotton Corporation had suffered “collateral damage” from the Twynam agriculture company’s sale last week of 240 gigalitres of water.
Queensland Cotton bought three NSW cotton gins, or mills, from Twynam three years ago: in the Gwydir Valley at Collarenebri, at Warren in the Macquarie Valley, and at Mungindi in the Macintyre Valley.
Mr Haire said Twynam’s water sale meant the $20 million cotton gin at Collarenebri was no longer viable.
Anybody who has been to Collarenebri will know that will be the death of the community. QLD Cotton spent jusyt on $1 million in the townships of Collarenebri and Moree. Thats a huge hit to their local economies.
The township of Warren will also feel the brunt.
Mr Haire said half the cotton processed at the Warren gin came from Twynam properties.
“We will be doing everything we can to keep it open, but there is no doubt that this decision willcertainly shorten the season,” he said.
Haire believes the Twynam purchase and future buy backs has already killed irrigation investment.
The political and legal risk associated with investing in irrigated Agriculture in Australia has suddenly become huge. Capital investment in irrigated agriculture in Australia is going to evaporate.
Cotton Australia has estimated that every 270 megs (million litres) of irrigation water used generates one full time job. On these figures the Tywnam purchase will cost the bush 900 jobs. The Rudd government has allocated $3.1 billion for water bubacks. This will mean that an incredible 9,000 plus jobs will be lost in irrigation towns and communities.
The Rudd government has done no studies into the impacts of their water buyback on the economies of rural towns. That would be because they don’t care. The buybacks are designed to win Green preference votes not support the river and communities that grow our food and fibre.
The National Farmers Federation and its President David Crombie support the water buyback scheme.
My question is – How can you David Crombie – How?
Where is the line in the sand for the National Farmers Federation on this unrelenting attack on our nations Food and Fibre producers by the Rudd Labor government?
Doesn’t Crombie or anybody in the NFF realize that very soon there will be no one left for them to ‘represent’?
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Agmates Founder & Editor Steve Truman
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