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Eco Capitalism
By Juliet Duffy
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A sustainable wave of innovation and alternative thinking will be required to manage the next “eco” industrial revolution. After many years of managing our scarce water resources in regional Australia, it has finally hit the media stage and political agenda and is now considered critical and of national significance. It is hard not feel that it is too little too late or that heaven forbid is just political opportunism. Australians impact one of the biggest ecological footprints in the world according to a recent report by the WWF. Basically the amount of land and water we use is 6.6 global hectares per person to support our lifestyle, desalination plants and more promises of dams would appear to be politically motivated and short term band aids as opposed to long term sustainable management and conservation of our resources. Historically it is hard not to be skeptical of the federal government who is finally showing commitment to manage what is essentially a global resource in a closed system. Irrigators and communities in regional Australia will welcome the management of water resources on a federal level as opposed to in-fighting between the States, water has no boundaries it is a global community resource. We are all aware that climate change will continue to significantly affect our regional economies as we are highly dependant on water resources for agricultural, manufacturing and mining processes. Coupled with the de-population of many rural communities’ this places significant pressures on the long term sustainability and viability of regional Australia. The development and implementation of adoption strategies will require the active involvement of all spheres of government, business and the community. Professor David Mitchell of the School of Environmental Sciences, CSU Albury Campus, proposes that to effectively manage our water now and into the future we need to think laterally and to be adventurous in finding solutions. Australia needs to manage its water resources effectively whilst ensuring that agribusiness and regional businesses earn a living in periods of water extremes, investment into long term planning is imperative. What if…in 1 out of 5 years where rainfall records historically say that it will be too wet or too dry for production, farmers and the services businesses are contracted by the Catchment Management Authorities (CMAs), to undertake work that will assist to remediate and make the land more environmentally sound? The agribusiness sector has the intellectual property, equipment and labour to undertake such contracts; it will reward the farming enterprise and the community for future generations, and will shift away from the handout mentality. These are successful and proud business people who have unfortunately at the core of their business model, the reliance and dependence upon water to ensure business success. |
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“We have reached the limit with our certainty of water supplies, businesses can not be solely dependant upon water, and it should be viewed as an opportunity when it is available,” Professor Mitchell said.
Team Irrigation is a regional firm that is starting to see the shifts in water management first hand, including the realisation that it is not a dependable resource.
Craig Chandler a Director of Team Irrigation genuinely expressed concerns about business survival for regional Australia, if, like Professor Mitchell stated, we do not think outside the square and approach water management with innovation, long term solutions, capacity building and improvements to our existing water infrastructure.
Businesses maybe allocated water, but if there are no water allocations there is no business. Team Irrigation services regional NSW and Northern Victoria (see Business Snapshot for more information) and have experienced first hand the effects of no longer having a dependant water supply.
“The situation is serious, we have not undertaken any work for 2 years in the Hunter or Lachlan Valley's because there has physically been no water allocated to irrigators, and the Macquarie Valley is critical as we only have 3 to 4 weeks of supply remaining,” Craig stated.
Having an understanding of the effects this is having on regional businesses Craig also found that there was confusion about federal and state government assistance that is available, professional business people are not familiar with the grants and welfare system.
Tenders and undertaking meaningful work that would provide long term community and economic returns and in turn build our capacity would be a much more sustainable approach to providing assistance in the water extreme years.
Regional businesses have not failed, they just haven't been provided with the resource – water; that is critical and at the core of their businesses making a living, we need business and community leaders that are challengers and are adventurous enough to make long term sustainable decisions.
The Federal government is proposing to modernise regional irrigation infrastructure through a $6 billion dollar investment, over 10 years and estimate they will find an extra 3600 billion litres of which only 1800 billion litres will be returned to regional economies, which should equate to an extra $1 billion in gross value terms for food and fibre through efficiency gains.
Need More Information?
Juliet Duffy is the Managing Director of Wireless Marketing Pty Ltd and can be contacted on (02) 6885 5361 or by email on juliet@wirelessmarketing.com.au.
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