VegetablesWA remains concerned about proposed changes to water supply targets for growers in the North Wanneroo Agricultural region.
The North Wanneroo Agriculture and Water Taskforce last week delivered its report into water allocation and land use issues in North Wanneroo. The Minister for Agriculture and Food Alannah MacTiernan also responded to the recommendations.
VegetablesWA CEO John Shannon – who was a member of the taskforce – acknowledged the decrease to the proposed groundwater allocations from 25 per cent to 10 per cent but said they did not go far enough and any cuts to water allocations in the region are not supported by industry.
“The Taskforce and the Government have listened but even a 10 per-cent reduction to water allocations will have crippling impact on growers in the region,” he said.
“Any cut at all will be unacceptable to vegetable growers, because their livelihood depends on their full allocation. It is also incredibly disappointing news that the Minister has ruled out compensation for
affected growers. We know that in 2016-17 vegetable growers achieved an average return on capital of four per-cent that financial year. The bottom 25 per-cent of growers generated a return on capital of minus six per-cent."
“The Government owes it to those growers to look at way to financially support them if these changes come into effect. I welcome news that the Minister did make a commitment to make a case to the Commonwealth Government for funding through the National Water Infrastructure Development Fund to prepare a business case for the development of a new agricultural precinct.”
For more information,
Claire Krol
Email: claire@huntercomms.com.au
Tel: +61 424894120
http://www.vegetableswa.com.au/