Fed: Replumbing funding might disappear in buyback - Hunt

AAP General News (Australia)
04-29-2008
Fed: Replumbing funding might disappear in buyback - Hunt

CANBERRA, April 29 AAP - Money previously allocated for "replumbing" rural Australia
may now disappear into buying back water licences, the federal opposition says.

Water Minister Penny Wong is set to announce today a $3.1 billion program, which will
operate during the next decade, to buy back water from irrigators in the Murray-Darling
Basin to help the environment.

Water bought by the scheme will be managed by a new authority - the Commonwealth Environment
Water Holder - and used to replenish levels in basin waterways.

Opposition environment spokesman Greg Hunt says the plan matches the former Howard
government's policy.

"We are pleased that they've obviously kept the plan and pleased that they're involved
in the buyback," he told ABC Radio.

"But the buyback was predicated on something critical and that was that there was funding
for farmers to basically replumb rural Australia, to help gain the water efficiencies
that were necessary, whether it's from irrigation, from pipes, from covering channels.

"There is a very real indication that almost $2 billion of the money that was going
to go to farmers may now disappear and be used for other things."

Mr Hunt says the buyback will not be effective unless there is assistance to replumb farms.

"We need a guarantee that the farmers aren't about to have their water futures taken
from them," he said.

AAP dep/rl/maur/jlw

KEYWORD: WATER HUNT

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