NATIONAL IRRIGATORS’ COUNCIL

MEDIA RELEASES

Advocating for the Australian irrigated agriculture industry

On Monday 22nd September Matt Coulton from Ricardo provided Members a presentation on Climate Risks and Water Policy implications in the MDB.  The presentation slides are attached for your information.

A recording of the first half of the presentation is temporarily available here via teams. The second part of the presentation was discussion and engagement with Matt which was not recorded to encourage open discussion. 

The NIC Board needs your help - they are seeking feedback from Members regarding the 2026 Meeting schedule.  The NIC Board is considering two options for our annual meeting schedule. We want to ensure maximum value from meeting face to face for discussions and networking, and balance this with resourcing of NIC and Members to travel.  Please complete via this survey (takes 3 mins) prior to Wednesday 10th October!!

NIC provided a submission into Feeding Australian: A national food security discussion paper.  We stated "A national food security strategy must consider Australia’s food sovereignty as well as, our role in the future food security needs of our trading partners; to achieve this, a national water security strategy for agriculture will be needed to underpin it. Water is a critical input into agricultural production, and the objectives of this strategy cannot be achieved in the absence of agricultural water security". We provided six recommendations for consideration in developing the national strategy. 

NIC has completed our own internal review into the Murray Darling Basin Plan, which is a series of papers addressing the key themes of the 2024 Early Insights paper using the recently published “Triple Crown of Water Reform Framework” to highlight possible next steps for the Basin Plan.  We hope to help forge a future pathway that embraces the paradigm shift needed for the Basin that is more about a 'plan of management' than the current ‘water recovery plan’ focus.  The review addresses; regulatory design, sustainable water limits, climate change, environment, agriculture and community and contemporary issues.   
We encourage stakeholders to reach out to discuss these papers, the evidence, our findings and recommendations. 

Irrigation Australia Limited's Spring Journal features our CEO, Zara Lowien's comments on the 2025 Basin Plan Evaluation (on page 32-35) indicating there were plenty of first the MDBA's 'game changing' 2025 evaluation but what does it mean for the irrigation industry.  Zara highlighted the opportunity before Minister Watt has to work collaboratively with communities and industry on a much-needed reset, that looks to refocus the Basin Plan on outcomes rather than numbers. 

Australian Farm Institute, Executive Director Katie McRobert says "Much of Australia’s agricultural policy is caught in a loop. When a crisis erupts – be it drought, market disruption, or community outrage – political and media attention surges. Decisions are demanded, headlines written, levers pulled. But as the immediate threat subsides, so too does the will to implement lasting solutions...This edition of the Farm Policy Journal explores that cycle – and asks what we can do to break it. ....The opening article by Christine Freak and Zara Lowien examines the long and often reactive trajectory of water policy reform in the Murray–Darling Basin (MDB)...[They] offer offer an original contribution to this challenge in the form of the Triple Crown of Water Reform Framework, which conceptualises reform as a three-pronged effort: water-sharing (Flows), watermanagement (Functions), and integrated resource initiatives (Further)."

Director nominations for the National Irrigators' Council board are due by 10th September 2025.

There are three positions vacant this Annual General Meeting information, with one director not considering re-election.

Please visit the Meeting Documentation - Annual General Meeting page for more information. 

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