NATIONAL IRRIGATORS’ COUNCIL

MEDIA RELEASES

Advocating for the Australian irrigated agriculture industry

13 July 2026, Canberra ACT: Communities in the Murray-Darling Basin are calling on the Federal Government to stop, after SunRice attributed major changes to Australian milling sites directly to slashed water for farming under the Basin Plan, putting hundreds of jobs at risk.

“The industry has been warning the Federal Government of this exact risk for years, and now the worst-case scenario is unfolding,” said Zara Lowien, CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council (NIC).

[continued]

Basin officials have confirmed 14 environmental projects will be withdrawn from formal recognition under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan placing Southern Basin communities at risk of losing up to a further 355 GL of water through no fault of their own.

“The environmental outcomes from these projects cannot be achieved by ‘just adding more water’,” said CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council (NIC), Zara Lowien, “in fact, these projects are essential to actually use all the water the Government has already recovered from farmers.Withdrawing these projects is a lose-lose situation for communities and the environment." [...]

Please see our first draft on the issue paper “Strong Voices, Healthy Waters: upholding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ water rights through the review of the Water Act 2007” where the NIC has decided to make a number of corrections and clear points of clarification needed for the Water Act Review. 

Feedback on this draft submission is welcome, preferably through tracked changes or comments within the document to Christine by Wednesday, 8th July. 

Today's publication of the ‘What we Heard’ Report following public consultation on the Basin Plan Review shows a clear united message: priorities have shifted, move on from “just adding water”. “After three decades of reform focused on reducing diversions to rebalance towards the environment, it’s clear that priorities are now shifting to a broader range of issues that cannot be addressed by just adding water,” said National Irrigators’ Council CEO Zara Lowien [...]

The NIC continues to monitor the Federal Government’s implementation of the additional Held Environmental Water (HEW) program under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan and has released a second report, following our December 2025 analysis. 

The 450 GL program has fundamentally changed since it was first conceived. The original budget has been exhausted, expected costs have escalated significantly, the scope of the program has expanded, and new environmental evidence has emerged. Despite these material changes, there has been no transparent reassessment of whether continued expenditure represents the most effective, efficient and economical investment to achieve environmental outcomes and deliver benefits to the Australian economy [...]

The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) has warned the Federal Government’s continued pursuit of additional water buybacks under the Murray-Darling Basin Plan risks becoming one of Australia’s most expensive environmental program without demonstrating that it delivers value to the Australian economy. 

A new NIC review has found the Government’s 450 GL additional environmental water program has moved well beyond its original budget and purpose, with taxpayers facing a potential multi-billion-dollar bill despite growing evidence that further water purchases are delivering diminishing environmental returns.

The Board would like to thank Members for their ongoing support to NIC, your support and our growth strategy, is ensuring we are a focused and sustainable organisation, providing a strong and united voice in key water policy debates.

The Board also wishes to inform Members of the  2026 -2027 fee structure. Increases have been managed closely to the March 2026 quarter Consumer Price Index, slight rounding was needed to keep the fee structure in whole dollars. This coming year, a new non-Murray Darling Basin fee option is now available for all Membership categories enabling a discounted rate, when the proposed applicant's water entitlement interests are located solely outside the Murray-Darling Basin. 

Here is a member briefing note for members on the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which is a key focus of the review of the Water Act 2007 (Cth). We will present this to you at todays drop-in session, for those available to attend, and start discussions on our strategy. 

The Peter Cullen Trust has initiated a new Leadership Program for Executives - Confluence.

Confluence is designed for leaders who already operate at scale and want to amplify their impact. In a time of complexity and change, it offers a rare opportunity to step back from the day to day demands of leadership and focus on how to maintain and expand influence.

Confluence creates a space to reflect, connect and lead with purpose in complex times. A place where ideas, experience and perspectives converge to shape resilient futures.  Reach out to Lesley at PCT via office@petercullentrust.com.au

Applications soon close for the first cohort's of the ARLF and MDBA Murray-Darling Leadership Program (MDBLP).  The program aims to bring together people from across the Basin who are ready to work beyond their own interests and contribute to something shared — including strengthening understanding of how the Basin’s water resources are managed and why they matter.

This is a leadership experience designed for people who care deeply about the future of the Basin and the communities, industries and water dependent ecosystems it supports.  To find our more - visit the webpage and lodge an expression of interest. 

The MDBA is seeking expression of interest applications for Basin Community Committee (BCC) Members that provide input to the MDBA on their activities.  

New tenures and reappointments will begin in April 2027 for a 3-year term and nominations will undergo an extensive selection process involving all Basin governments.

The Basin Community Committee, established under the Water Act 2007 (Cth), is chaired by Ms Rachel Kelly and includes irrigation, environmental water and Indigenous water subcommittees. 

Please see our Meeting Event page for information on our upcoming October AGM and General Meeting.

Scheduled over two-half-days on Tuesday 13th October and Wednesday 14th October 2026, in Barton ACT.  This is a sitting week, so please book your travel early to save.

A Networking and Thank You Dinner will be held at Hotel Kurrajong on Tuesday, 13th October - a separate event with a trybooking link is available under Member events. 

In One Basin CRC up-coming webinar series explores integrating Basin-scale and onsite water systems with a joint partnership with One Basin CRC and One Water Program at Texas A&M University in the United States. In response to increasing water scarcity, climate variability, and growing agricultural and municipal water demands, integrated “One Water” approaches are gaining global traction.Hear more at the Webinar Thursday, 21 May 2026, at 10:00am.

The MDBA together with the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation are hosting a free webinar to hear more about their new leadership initiative - A leadership program for people ready to work across sectors, communities and perspectives to support the long term health of the Basin and the communities it sustains. For anyone interested in learning more about this opportunity, a webinar is being held on Wednesday 20th May 2026 | 4pm - 5pm.

Last night, the Treasurer presented the Government's 2026 Budget. Its contentious due to is reform agenda to the tax system, their assumptions and whether Labor have broken trust with Australian's over their proposals.  The bottom line is that we are projected for at least another 10-years to be in deficit and that will affect the Government's thinking when it comes to how they generate income and their likely spending priorities going forward.

Attached is a briefing note from NIC which is specific to the Water Portfolio items which are much less controversial but indicative that water isnt a major priority. For water and the MDB, the likely expenditure is again as clear as mud with references to not for publication subtlety hidden as notes to tables, with no clear line items to attribute what may or may not be the future budget. We have made some calculations here using what we have available, however it may not be the full picture. As with many portfolio areas, there is a lot of savings and not a lot of new expenditure.  These savings include another $104M from the National Water Grid with only $21.1M in new spending to top up existing programs. 

This submission is provided to the Productivity Commission’s (PC) fourth inquiry on governments’ progress under the National Water Initiative (NWI), as required by the Water Act 2007 (Cth). NIC notes that this inquiry comes at a time of significant review, and potential change, of water policy settings across Australia, particularly in the Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). The consultation burden affects stakeholders and Government.

This submission is provided to the review of the operation and management of the Menindee Lakes system. Many of our Members are critically linked into the frameworks and operations of Menindee Lakes via existing sharing arrangements through the Murray Darling Agreement or local sharing plans - above and below the Lakes. This submission therefore represents the views of irrigation entitlement holders and water users, and non-government water delivery networks, up and downstream of the Lakes.

Following a quick presentation from the PC and our Member Policy Discussion yesterday, please see the first draft of NIC's Submission into the Productivity Commissions Inquiry into National Water Reform.  This is due to be lodged tomorrow, however given the timeframes we can hold off until Monday for feedback and lodge Monday evening. 

We hope that little bit more time allows you time for feedback and review.  Please reach out for a word document if you want to provide tracked changes. 

Following feedback from Members and the discussion at the Member Policy Session yesterday, please see an updated version of the NIC Menindee Submission attached. This is due to be lodged tomorrow, so please review for final checks. 

Changes included adding clear statements on boundaries on what the vision for the Lakes must recognise, as well as including the final agreed principles as recommendations.  We included reference to the shepherding trial and clarity around the exiting multi jurisdictional arrangements now within the Water Act.

The draft NIC Submission for the Menindee Lakes Review is now available for member feedback. You will find the draft submission on our members area > policy & strategy > Menindee Lakes.

We will discuss the draft submission at next weeks Drop-In, which is an opportunity to provide feedback. 

Note: NIC received an extension to May 8th. 

Thank you to all our Members who have provided input prior to and during the 12-weeks of consultation.

Our submission has now been lodged. 

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.”

As we prepared to get ready for our April General Meeting, the final Agenda and Papers are now available for review prior to the Thursday.  These include two new updated papers to help guide discussions on Climate Uncertainty and Menindee Lakes, as well as a background brief for the Water Act discussion.

We look forward to welcoming you to Sydney. Reminder, a casual breakfast will start from 7:30am prior to the meeting. 

A new podcast by The Rural Psychologist explores the question of how government decisions can effect the mental health and wellbeing of whole rural communities.  In this episode NIC CEO Zara Lowien, shares her in-sights and lived experience, explaining how government decisions in water can flow through a community, the benefits and impacts and why stability is needed to provide some certainty moving forward, in these increasingly uncertain times.  

Following last week's Member Policy discussion, a Draft Position Statement on Climate Uncertainty is available for review and feedback.  Feedback is welcome by Friday 10th April.  We intend to finalise this Position Statement at our April General Meeting. 

REMINDER - the Blue box is the text that is agreed or voted on by Members and should be the focus of feedback.  The remaining text is background and can be updated as needed with new information without Member approval. 

Following feedback and discussion, we have updated the Basin Plan snapshot document to include climate as well as, more detail on the Basin Plan 2.0 and 1.0.

Visit the Members Area to see the web version of the attached PDF.

The Productivity Commission has released the terms of reference for the tree-yearly review into National Water Reform - this inquiry is into the National Water Initiative and its progress.  The review also includes terms to look at urban water infrastructure and pricing, and thus presents an opportunity to raise concerns with bulk water infrastructure and pricing. This is a tight timeframe, with a two-step process for an initial submission and a final submission deadline, which is similar to the usual process, it will mean we will not see a draft report rather an initial summary.  The intention is this information is available to the Minister prior to the end of 2026, to help inform the legislative program for 2027.

NIC has requested a direct meeting with the inquiry team and we will let you know when.

Part 3 of our Submission to the MDBA's Basin Plan Review Discussion paper is the full list of MDBA options, our NIC response and our own options.  This is available as a stand alone document. 

The first draft of our NIC Submission to the MDBA's Basin Plan Review Discussion Paper is now available.  Attached is the one document, which includes a brief one-pager on the review. The one-pager is designed as a stand alone document for decision makers, and hence its language is tailored accordingly.  The options table is also available separately on the Members Page. 

Feedback is welcomed, and I note we haven't specifically discussed northern connectivity or Menindee yet as a Membership group which will further shape this submission (although we anticipate a separate submission for Menindee Review).  We will have a Specific Member Drop in session scheduled for this in coming weeks, to give you time to read through the submission.  The submission has been written to provide an overarching key recommendations, with a number of specific recommendations within the report - the key list is the option table in Part 3.  We aimed to have it structured to allow, local views and regional examples, to be provided. 

The NIC team have uploaded and embedded a "live document" to help inform our submission development.  This includes overview of issues, SDL assessment and technical issues, options analysis.

The approach aims to be transparent with the key issues for the BP Review, proposed solutions and actions. The document will be updated as we progress through our analysis adn thinking.  

The MDBA options from the discussion paper, are also presented with draft comments outlining our potential responses for the submission.  In the options tab, we have also included previously recommended NIC positions for reference. 

This week, the statutory review of the Water Act 2007 (Cth) commenced. You can read the Terms of Reference and an Introductory Paper on the DCCEEW website. Consultation is now underway until July. We will discuss more at our next member drop-in session. 

Following the Member policy discussion on 25 February, please see the slides from this meeting. Key discussion points were reaffirming our positions, providing insights into our work program including our journal article on evidence to priorisation for the Basin Plan next steps a follow on from our triple crown framework, as well as our engagement and communications planing -internal and external. 

The NIC provided a written, public submission into the Review into the Inspector General Water Compliance saying: "Reviewing how the role is functioning towards these key principles is paramount as the new role matures over time, to ensure that these principles are being met, but also that this is occurring in an effective, efficient, fit-for-purpose and proportional manner. Nothing in this submission is to question or belittle the importance of these principles – rather – to examine how they can be most effectively and efficiently served."

A working draft of our proposed submission to the Independent Review of the Inspector General of Water Compliance, is available here. During this weeks Policy Discussion, feedback was received but not yet fully incorporated.  This is at the end of the submission and will be incorporated next week. 

Please review the working draft and provide any feedback to Christine by the end of next week, a further draft will then be circulated prior to finalising for submission on 25 February 2026.

NIC team have prepared an updated briefing note for Members on the MDBA Discussion Paper and provided some guidance on key areas to question from the MDBA during consultation roundtables next week.
Consideration of additional messages is underway, pending feedback following the consultation sessions. 

The powerpoint slides from the 11 February NIC Member Policy Discussion on the Review of the Inspector General of Water Compliance role and the initial analysis of the Basin Plan Review Discussion paper are available here.

As part of Basin Plan Review communication and information sharing, our first of our weekly Q&A sessions were held today.  These session are held every Tuesday at 1pm. See attached the slides.

Question and themes asked, will be generated into the live issues list and discussed in Policy Sessions, as scheduled every second Wednesday. 

The MDBA has been working with River Murray governments to collate and prepare background information on the historical and current operation and management arrangements for Menindee Lakes and the associated challenges and opportunities in operating and managing the Menindee Lakes into the future.  A technical review and issues paper have been released for information to inform the Basin Plan Review. 

Legalwise is again holding their annual Water Law Symposium in Sydney.
As water law continues to evolve in response to environmental challenges, policy reform and heightened regulatory scrutiny, secure expert guidance on key legal and strategic issues shaping Australia’s water governance framework. You will gain insights into the lessons of the past decade in water reform, the intersection of Indigenous rights and governance, and the design of the Basin Plan Review. 

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.[...]

The MDBA have opened registrations for a series of webinars to support their consultation approach on the Basin Plan Review. The initial topics being how to make a submission, Menindee and SDL assessments. The webinars will be recorded and start from Monday next week. 

A link on these webinars is not yet available on their website but is available by clicking here. 

We have set up a new  Members only page on our website with all the information you need on the Basin Plan Review.

Reminder, you will need to have set up your Member sign in to access the page and all the information. 

The Department are reviewing the role of the Inspector-General of Water Compliance, to ensure it continues to add value to the management of the Murray Darling Basin.

This review is a requirement of the Water Act 2007 and must be completed by 30 June 2026.

Independent reviewers have been appointed.  A survey and or submissions are due by 25 February 2026.

The NIC Board are wanting to undertake a mid-term review of the performance and value of NIC, since the adoption of the new Strategic Plan and membership changes.  To inform this process, the Board are seeking views from Members and other targeted stakeholders on NIC performance, and how we represent the industry to Members and external stakeholders. 

A brief survey has been set up providing you and your organisation an opportunity to provide input and feedback to the Board.  It should take up to 10 minutes depending on your desired level of input.  The Survey will be open until 6th February 2026.

As always, please feel free to reach out to any of the Directors or Zara with feedback and input. 

“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.” [...]

Office Closure

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.

Ministerial Council update

On the 12th December, a national Water Minister's meeting and Murray Darling Basin Water Minister's meeting were held - these are known as MinCo meetings. 

The national meeting, discussed the preparation and next steps of a renewed National Water Initiative and progress on water efficiency standards, as well as, risks pertaining to increased demands on water including water for data centres (in our view any new demands for water should be found from new sources, or through existing markets).  The communique is available here.

The MDB meeting, discussed progress on the Basin Plan and concerns regarding SDLAM projects. There was no direction mention of constraints, however some discussion on a strategic approach to SDLAM projects. The communiqué is available here.

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