Many Greek Australians in rural Australia have responded angrily to the Murray-Darling Basin Authority’s (MDBA) preliminary plan, which recommended cuts of around 35 percent for irrigation for farming across parts of Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.
In the long run there will definitely have to be some pain on all sides.
The plan was released last Friday and community consultations have begun around the affected regions this week.
On Thursday, copies of the MDBA’s preliminary plan were burned at Griffith’s community consultations. Peter Katsoulis has lived in Griffith, in the NSW Riverina, for 73 years.
Mr Katsoulis, a retiree who has lived in the Riverina since he was seven years old, told Neos Kosmos the proposed water reductions would be “a tragedy.”
“The effect here will be devastating,” he said. “We’ve been without water for so many years.”
Amid the growing fury, the Federal Government has announced independent MP Tony Windsor will chair a six-month enquiry into the economic impact of plans to save the river system.
But Mr Katsoulis, the president of the local combined pensioners and superannuants association, said even small reductions would cause people to leave the rice-growing area. Greeks respond Murray-Darling proposal “Even a 20 percent water cut in Griffith could lose us half our population,” he said.
“There’s no one here that can support these cutbacks.”
But environmental author Nick Dallas told Neos Kosmos “some pain” was inevitable.
“In the long run there will definitely have to be some pain on all sides,” he said.
Mr Dallas, the author of Climate Change Basics and Green Business Basics, said the consultation process was “absolutely imperative” to developing a solution that would save the river without doing too much damage to farmers.
“I think everyone appreciates they’ll be affected by it, but at the same time you’re trying to do something for the environment and you want to save the river system,” he said.
In Cooltong, South Australia, Jack Papageorgiou is a citrus grower, who’s also on the Board of Directors of Irrigation Trusts.
He told Neos Kosmos the community would reject the proposal as it is, and that farmers would demand full compensation for the irrigation cuts.
“We need a healthy river, but we also need food security,” he said.
Mr Papageorgiou said there will be “a lot of politics” before a plan is reached. “The water is there,” he said. “It’s a matter of finding a balance between production and the environment.”
