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Fitzroy Basin Food and Fibre
FBF&F, are an incorporated irrigator representative body
based in Emerald, CQ, that represents the interests of over
400 individual irrigators in seven sub-catchments. These include
the Nogoa River, the Comet River, the Mackenzie River, the
Callide area, the Dawson Valley, the upper Fitzroy and Barrage
irrigation area, and the Isaacs/Connors Rivers. Each of these
catchments has an individual representative member that sits
on our management committee and these are administered by
an Executive.
Current issues for us include pricing, (particularly in the
Fitzroy Barrage area), property rights, the impending resource
operation plans (ROP's), water harvesting caps, compensation
and local management. In Emerald for example, we have recently
experienced drastic staff losses (not cuts - resignations)
in our Sun Water office which is having a direct impact upon
our irrigators' confidence in their delivery systems. Such
events may have us moving further toward local management
of our regulated systems to ensure effective water delivery.
We adopt some policy from other areas including the Queensland
Irrigators' Council (QIC) and Border Rivers Food & Fibre
group, and write our own where it is necessary. We are also
a member of QIC and are funded by Cotton Australia, both of
whom we partcipate with on a regular basis. These parties
more than any other have had a direct impact on our policy
positions, direction and survival.
Currently, the office is administered part-time by Adam Loch
and the Chairman is Mr. Ced Loch. The two deputy chairs are
Mr. Paul Brooks and Mr. Rob Hutchinson and the Treasurer is
Mr. Dougal Millar. We have a membership that is growing each
year and the involvement of more that twenty persons in our
management committee, a figure that exceeds any other to my
knowledge. In the days of declining interest in getting invloved
in these types of bodies, ours is a dynamic group for obvious
reasons - water is life!
Importantly, our group has a very good relationship with
both the regional offices of DNRM, Sun Water and DPI all of
which help to ensure that we are involved, informed and important.
This is extremely crucial to the whole Qld water reform proccess,
and what sets us apart from our NSW counterparts at times.
Our contacts are ph: (07) 4982 1557, Fx: (07) 4982 1545,
Mb: 0412 178 162 and email: adamloch@maxspeed.net.au.
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