2023-08-03
The Victorian Greens have called on the Victorian Labor Government to take the urgent action needed to protect the Murray-Darling Basin and ensure its long-term survival.
The Greens say this action must include allowing voluntary buy-backs to get real water back into the Basin and ensure the whole system can survive in the face of climate change.
Earlier today, Environment Victoria released a damning report which revealed that successive state governments had undermined the national plan to restore and protect the Basin.
The report revealed that state governments had done this by delaying and curtailing the Water Act, promoting lower water saving targets, and by making buy-backs impossible.
Victorian Greens water spokesperson, Sarah Mansfield, said it was outrageous that the Victorian Labor Government was refusing to step up to its environmental commitments, when more than three million people were dependent on the Basin for water.
She added that with the end of the Basin Plan approaching in June 2024, it was high-time for the Government to demonstrate leadership, own its past mistakes and turn this crisis around.
Quotes attributable to Victorian Greens water spokesperson, Dr Sarah Mansfield:
“It is ludicrous to rule out voluntary buybacks that would get real water back into the Basin.
“Millions of people rely on the Murray for their livelihoods yet this Government is prepared to sit back and watch it dry up.
“After dragging its feet for years on its commitments, the Government has reduced its targets, refused to do buy-backs and instead focused on dodgy, unproven offset schemes that don’t put real water back in the Murray.
“The Victorian Labor Government now has a clear choice: to continue to put off their obligations at the cost of this precious ecosystem, or show leadership and ensure the Murray and regional communities can thrive for generations to come.”