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Advocating for the Australian irrigated agriculture industries.

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NIC Media Release - Now Is The Time For Stability - Irrigators Submit To Basin Plan Review
Yesterday

NIC Media Release: Now Is The Time For Stability - Irrigators Submit To Basin Plan Review

23 April 2026, Sydney, NSW: The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) met in Sydney today to finalise a response to the Murray-Darling Basin Plan Review, issuing a sneak peek.

“The balance has been struck when it comes to sharing water, with three-decades of reforms shrinking the share for farmers by one-third,” said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien.

“The Government’s own science says there’s no need to further reduce water from farming, showing 92% of environmental indicators across the Basin’s rivers would not change.” Read More…

MDBA Paper finds it's time to move beyond 'just adding water'
5 Feb

A first look at the Murray Darling Basin Authority’s Basin Plan Review discussion paper, reveals again that more is needed than “just adding water” to improve the environments of the Basin. “The discussion paper should serve as an important wake up call to the Federal Government who continue to use old tools, for today’s challenges”, said NIC CEO, Zara Lowien.[...] Read More…

National EPBC listing in MDB, just words not action
15 Jan

“Today’s announcement is just smoke and mirrors by the Albanese Government,” said National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Zara Lowien. “Listing these areas [parts of Murray Basin floodplain] only adds complexity, creates uncertainty for new developments, overlooks the progress of the Basin Plan and offers no new solutions.” [...] Read More…

Office Closure
19 Dec '25

We're taking a short break to refuel and get ready for 2026.

The NIC Office will be closed from Monday, 22nd December 2025 until Monday 5th January 2026.

Analysis finds Governments additional water buyback spree is flawed
12 Dec '25

NIC report reviewed the Federal Government’s purchases and found most have low environmental utility and cannot directly contribute to today’s environmental priorities in the Basin – despite costing taxpayers billions.“These additional water buybacks go beyond what was required to ‘bridge the gap’ to get Sustainable Diversion Limits in place for the Basin Plan,” said NIC CEO Zara Lowien “most of this additional water will not be able to be used as intended and unlikely to contribute to desired environmental outcomes”. [...] Read More…