March 4, 2016
Federal Member for Gippsland Darren Chester says an urgent upgrade of the Macalister Irrigation District is needed to create job opportunities and capitalise on the Australian Government’s signing of free trade agreements.
Mr Chester said the modernisation of irrigation infrastructure in the MID would improve water efficiency and create a prosperous future for the industry.
“In Gippsland alone, the agricultural total product in terms of dairy product from the farming sector, manufacturing and export industries is in the order of $3 billion per year,” Mr Chester told Federal Parliament.
“There are about 6,500 people directly or indirectly engaged in farming and processing in Gippsland associated with the dairy industry; and over 1400 dairy farms across the broader Gipps land region,” Mr Chester said.
“The Macalister Irrigation District also has a significant vegetable production industry, creating more than $500 million for the Victorian economy each year and underpinning the growth and security of Gippsland’s rural communities.”
Mr Chester said future growth was reliant on water security in the Macalister Irrigation District and commended the irrigation community for its efforts to mix their own private investment with government funds.
“We are working as a community to secure funding for the major upgrades of the Southern-Tinamba project and the irrigation infrastructure supply system, which will help us meet future growth in global dairy demand,” Mr Chester said.
“What we are keen to see in Gippsland and the Macalister Irrigation District is the investment between state government, federal government and the farmers themselves in a joint effort to improve the supply system.
“A project which will deliver benefits in the order of $45 million to $50 million per year, and cost in the order of $60 million to modernize.
“It will provide in the order of 9,700 megalitres in savings from the current system. These water savings can obviously be used to further support growth and expansion in the dairy and horticultural sector in Gippsland.