Discussing agriculture's water affordability, efficiency, and infrastructure priorities

Water is an important input for Queensland farmers, critical to the efficiency, sustainability, and profitability of their operations.

As a state we must continue to strive for a Queensland regulatory environment that provides irrigators with affordable and reliable water resources, and it is important that the state’s water pricing policy is transparent and allows for appropriate consultation.

A coordinated and consultative approach to water planning and policy development is absolutely necessary to ensure access to the state’s water resources are stabilised for the agriculture sector.

As a policy action, QFF is asking political parties to commit to affordable bulk and distribution water prices for SunWater and Seqwater schemes. Funding has also been requested to ensure irrigated agriculture can meaningfully respond to pending price investigations.

QFF and our peak body members see significant opportunities for the delivery of on-farm water efficiency support programs, comparable to the QFF delivered Energy Savers, EnergySQ and QBEST Ag programs, which have all identified substantial opportunities for on-farm energy savings.

Beyond these pricing and efficiency commitments, Queensland agriculture requires several water infrastructure upgrades and commitments.

Key among these is prioritising the completion of the business case for the restoration of Paradise Dam, including a fully funded and committed timeline for the build commencement. Government must work closely with the Bundaberg community and irrigators to ensure water security is maintained during the planning and construction of the new dam wall.

On water infrastructure broadly, QFF is calling for dam safety to be recognised and regulated in perpetuity as a public benefit with this cost to be funded by government.

Environmental water is an area we must get right, or we will have a range of detrimental impacts on agriculture and regional communities. QFF and our members promote the use of water in an efficient and sustainable manner that will benefit the economy while respecting the needs of the environment. This needs to be an AND equation, not a one or the other.

QFF welcomed the leadership of the Miles government in putting in place the legislative changes needed to prohibit carbon capture and storage projects in the Queensland component of the Great Artesian Basin prioritizing water security for future generations.

Getting water security, pricing and efficiency policy settings right whilst developing and maintaining appropriate infrastructure, is critical in supporting a viable future for agriculture and regional communities.