ADIC submission calls for balanced water reform

The Australian Dairy Industry Council (ADIC) has lodged a submission to the Productivity Commission’s inquiry into National Water Reform, calling for future reforms to better balance environmental outcomes with food production, regional economies and investment certainty.

The submission highlights the importance of secure and reliable water access to Australia’s dairy industry, arguing that water policy is also investment policy. It notes that further reductions in water availability, whether through buybacks or uncompensated rule changes, would have significant consequences for dairy farmers, manufacturers and regional communities.

ADIC recommends that governments shift their focus from recovering additional volumes of water to delivering measurable environmental outcomes with the water already recovered. It also calls for stronger protection of water entitlement security, recognition of food production and sovereign manufacturing as public benefits, greater consideration of socioeconomic impacts, improved transparency in water markets, and better management of unlicensed water interception activities.

More: Read ADIC’s Submission