Climate Change Refugees in Murray Towns

As reported by the Melbourne Age, Northern Victorians are in danger of becoming Australia's first climate change refugees, according to a top Brumby Government water official. Victoria's Department of Sustainability and Environment executive director Campbell Fitzpatrick said the human aspect of climate change in the Murray-Darling Basin must not be forgotten amid the heated debate over water reform.

He is quoted in the report:

I think a lot of these communities in northern Victoria are pretty close to Australia's first climate change refugees. We think of climate change refugees as groups out in the Pacific Ocean on atolls about to be swamped by rising sea levels. Well, these are our own version of them.

The report suggests that towns like Swan Hill and Mildura, whose local economies are largely dependent on irrigation from the Murray River, were the potential sites for mass exodus.

Read the full article here.