Murray-Darling Basin plan under threat

The future of the $13bn Murray Darling Basin Plan hangs in the balance, amid threats from two states to walk away.

Assistant Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources Anne Ruston, pictured with Barnaby Joyce, says there’s a real danger NSW and Victoria will pull out. Picture: AAP

The Greens and the Coalition are at loggerheads over changes to the $13bn Murray Darling Basin Plan, as two states threaten to walk away if the federal government doesn’t get its way.

NSW and Victorian Water Ministers, Niall Blair and Lisa Neville, said they would pull out of the basin plan if the Turnbull government’s proposed changes were not passed in the Senate this week.

Meanwhile, Labor and the government are negotiating over the two disallowance motions being moved by the Greens, which could block changes to the north and south basins of the Murray Darling.

The Australian understands Labor caucus today voted to support the disallowance motions, pending a final decision on the issue as a group including Manager of Opposition Business Tony Burke and Labor leader in the Senate Penny Wong meet with the government to discuss sticking points.

A senior Labor source said it was possible, but not necessarily likely, that the government would satisfy Labor’s conditions, which include adequate metering of the northern basin in NSW to prevent water theft, assurances that taxpayer funded environmental water will be used for environmental purposes, a comprehensive response to allegations of corruption and water theft in the northern basin, and consultation with indigenous communities about water management.

Federal assistant water minister Anne Ruston told reporters there was a very “real and imminent danger” that Victoria and NSW, probably followed closely by Queensland, would pull out of the agreement if the disallowance motions proceeded.

“Playing political games just because we’ve got a South Australian election and putting this plan in jeopardy is a very serious thing to be doing.”

A group of Basin stakeholders including the National Farmers’ Federation and National Irrigators’ Council have today penned an open letter to state and federal politicians begging them to put politics aside, prioritise sustainability, back the Murray Darling Basin Plan as devised by Mr Burke in 2012, and oppose the disallowances.

“While not everyone in the basin likes the plan, everyone has been working towards achieving it and delivering a balanced plan,” the stakeholders wrote.

“Today that hangs in the balance and we are concerned that we are on the verge of seeing the efforts of many thrown away compromising future environmental outcomes.”

However, greens senator Sarah Hanson-Young said Victoria and NSW were “trying to blackmail” the Senate.

“This is beyond pathetic now,” she said.

“We are sick and tired of upstream big corporate irrigators ripping off our river and leaving us high and dry.”

The proposed changes to the way the water of the Murray Darling is distributed takes the form of regulation, which means it can be disallowed by the Senate.

Senator Ruston called for Labor to be “reasonable and rational” and to support the government’s changes.

“It would be disappointing if they don’t support it, but we will remain at the table with Tony Burke in the hope we can get him to support them,” she said.

“Most of the crossbench have been very receptive to the argument that the most important thing is to deliver the plan.”

Senator Hanson-Young said if Labor flipped and supported the government changes it would “go down like a lead balloon in South Australia.”

“If Labor holds firm ... if they hold tight we should be able to get this through,” Senator Hanson-Young said.

As soon as this afternoon, Senator Hanson-Young is expected to move a motion calling on the Senate to note reports of alleged water theft as a blow to community confidence in the basin plan.

Senator Hanson-Young’s motion will also call for correspondence between the chief of the Murray Darling Basin Authority and the Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder to be tabled, after Fairfax Media overnight published a leaked letter from the water holder to the basin authority chief declaring a “crisis of confidence” in the basin plan.

— With AAP