NEWS & EVENTS

Which Grinch Is Under Resourcing the Basin Plan?
21 Dec '12

The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) has warned repeatedly that the future of the Nations’ food bowl was resting on the implementation of Murray Darling Basin Plan and unless it was properly resourced it would become a complete shambles. “Over $12 billion of taxpayers funding has been allocated to recover water, yet funding to implement and […] Read More…

The Fish Don’t Care Who Funds Them
12 Dec '12

The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) said the future of the Nations’ food bowl was resting on the implementation of Murray Darling Basin Plan and unless it was properly resourced it could become a complete shambles. “Today Senior Murray Darling Basin Officials are meeting in Canberra to discuss the future of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, […] Read More…

No Rest for the Wicked
30 Nov '12

The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) said the future of the Nations’ food bowl was resting on the implementation of Murray Darling Basin Plan and unless it was properly resourced it could become a complete shambles. “Today the MDB Ministers are meeting in Canberra to discuss the finer details of the Intergovernmental Agreement, including funding,” NIC […] Read More…

Time to Make a Bad Plan Better
27 Nov '12

The National Irrigators’ Council said the river doesn’t care how water is recovered and capping water buy – backs in legislation will go a long way to delivering a better basin plan. NIC CEO, Tom Chesson today welcomed the fact that some Members of Parliament are prepared to put their communities first. Mr Chesson said […] Read More…

The Basin Plan is now about Trust
22 Nov '12

The Basin Plan has failed to legally protect communities from the ‘downsides’ of water back – backs, and communities will have to put their trust in the goodwill of politicians, the CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council, (NIC) Tom Chesson said today. “NIC has repeatedly asked the Government to back up its own acknowledgement ‘you […] Read More…

Still Plenty of Questions to be answered on Basin Plan
26 Oct '12

The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) has sceptically welcomed today’s announcement of additional funding for infrastructure within the Murray Darling Basin. “The commitment to additional funding, and the achievement of water through infrastructure is welcome, but we are far from convinced that the government will be able to effectively remove the capacity constraints,” NIC CEO, Tom […] Read More…

New MDBA Modelling nothing more than a Political Pawn
9 Oct '12

The latest modelling from the MDBA is a political con job that has no basis in reality and will be used as a pawn in a political game to appease the South Australian Government. The CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council, Tom Chesson said the modelling released today is a political fix for a political […] Read More…

Slashing the Native Fish Strategy is Just Plain Odd
3 Sep '12

The latest decision to cut funding for the Native Fish Strategy is just another odd decision in a long line of questionable calls, the CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council (NIC), Tom Chesson said today. Mr Chesson said that when it comes to decision making for the environmental health of the Murray Darling Basin, contradictory […] Read More…

Déjà Vu as crocodiles in the Detail start to bite
29 Aug '12

News that the MDBA wants to change the Benchmark modelling it has used to calculate the amount of water it will recover from Basin communities is creating concern throughout the Basin,the CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council, Tom Chesson said today. “Changing the Benchmark modelling after the Basin Plan has been approved by the Parliament […] Read More…

Proposed Basin Plan Still a Solution in Search of a Problem
6 Aug '12

The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) today said the latest incarnation of the proposed Basin Plan will leave many Basin Communities feeling they have been ignored again. NIC CEO, Tom Chesson said whilst there were some welcomed inclusions in the latest version of the proposed Basin Plan, the crocodiles lurking in the details were making support […] Read More…

Another Step on the Road to a ‘Balanced’ Basin Plan
10 Jul '12

The National Irrigators’ Council today welcomed the MDB Ministerial Council response to the proposed Basin Plan and said it may just be possible for a Balanced Basin Plan to be developed which does not destroy jobs, increase food prices and wipe out irrigation dependent communities. NIC CEO, Tom Chesson said today’s Ministerial Council response could […] Read More…

NIC Welcomes AWU Support for Irrigation Communities in the MDB
9 Jul '12

The National Irrigators’ Council CEO, Tom Chesson, said communities in the Murray Darling Basin were heartened by the attendance of the AWU’s NSW South West Organiser, Harry Goring, amidst the ranks of the 7000 people who attended the recent rally in Griffith to demand a balanced Basin Plan. “Mr Goring understands that AWU jobs are […] Read More…

Cross-Party Inquiry Recommendations Propose a Way Forward
6 Jul '12

The National Irrigators’ Council (NIC) has welcomed the report released today by the House of Representatives into the proposed Murray – Darling Basin Plan. NIC CEO, Tom Chesson said the fact that a cross – Party Committee with Members from the ALP, Liberals and The Nationals Parties plus an Independent Chair had made the recommendations […] Read More…

Another practical research organisation bites the dust
2 Jul '12

The closure of the Cotton Catchment Communities Cooperative Research Centre (Cotton CRC) on Sunday 1st of July highlights the lack of Government investment into practical real world on – the – ground research in Australia. The National Irrigators’ Council, CEO Tom Chesson said the work of the Cotton CRC was legendary and had provided a […] Read More…

Basin Ministerial Council Meeting Raises More Questions than it Answers
29 Jun '12

Today’s meeting Murray – Darling Basin Ministerial Council has done little to allay irrigators concerns and has raised more questions than it has answered. The CEO of the National Irrigators’ Council, Tom Chesson said he was surprised that the Ministers had agreed to another round of modelling for the proposed Basin Plan when the majority […] Read More…

Ambitious women urged to join ag leadership program
21 Feb

Women with leadership ambitions are urged to apply to the popular Diversity in Agriculture Leadership Program (DiALP).  The initiative is run by the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) and is now entering its eighth year. Twelve women will be selected for the 2025 program.  Applications open Monday, 24 February and will remain open for one month. 

For more information visit https://nff.org.au/programs/diversity-in-agriculture-leadership/  Read More…

Churchill Fellowship information session for ag hort and food sectors - February 25
17 Feb

Registrations are now open for a free online information session being hosted by former head of ABC Rural Leigh Radford on Tuesday, February 25 2025, specifically for people involved in any aspect of agriculture, horticulture and food production. Starting at 6 pm (AEDT), the session will run for about an hour, with the opportunity to ask questions, gain helpful advice and be inspired by Churchill Fellows sharing their experiences and insights. The speakers include Tim Roache who travelled overseas in 2017 to investigate milk pricing models and ways to manage price risk in the Australian market.

A series of regional information sessions is also currently being rolled out at select locations across Australia, including Newcastle and Launceston (Feb 20), Toowoomba (Feb 27), Geelong (March 4), Bendigo (March 5), Cairns (March 6), and Broome and Bunbury (March 15).  Read More…

Training opportunities with IAL
22 Jan

Irrigation Australia Limited has released is new training calendar providing nationally accredited, industry qualifications and certifications and for future irrigation professionals that wish to join this ever-growing industry. We provide a unique blending learning experience, with courses running face-to-face and virtual classrooms. 

IF you have new staff or identify a skills gap yourself, check out what they have on offer with courses Australia wide.  Read More…