More than 5000 jobs will be lost in rural NSW if the federal government is forced to concentrate its massive water purchases in NSW, due to restrictions on water trading in Victoria, according to the NSW Irrigators' Council.
The Australian Financial Review reports that the council has calculated that the plan to spend $1.9 billion buying water over the next four years could result in purchases of 791 gigalitres, mostly from NSW.
The council's chief executive, Andrew Gregson, said the caps on trade in Victoria would limit the water that could be bought there to around 25GL, meaning that 766GL would have to be bought from NSW, where caps are not enforced.
"NSW government research shows irrigation employs one person per 270 megalitres," he said.
"A 766 gigalitre purchase therefore removes 2837 jobs from rural NSW.
"Applying even a relatively small multiplier effect of two, to take into account the flow-on effect to local communities, that's 5674 jobs gone."
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