An Albanese Labor Government will protect Australia\u2019s precious water resources with a five-point plan for the Murray Darling Basin that strikes the right balance between the needs of local communities, farmers and the environment.
The Murray Darling is Australia\u2019s biggest and most important river system and its future is critical for the livelihoods and welfare of millions of Australians and for our environment and natural resources.
The future of the Murray Darling is too important to risk three more years of Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce.
The Morrison-Joyce Government will never act because the Nationals won\u2019t let them. The environment is hurting and Murray Darling Basin communities are paying the price.
Australians have noticed the efforts of members of the Morrison-Joyce Government to shred the Plan altogether. And South Australians haven\u2019t forgotten that Barnaby Joyce told them to \u201cmove to where the water is\u201d during the millennium drought.
Labor will deliver on the final 450 gigalitres (GL) of water for the environment that Scott Morrison and Barnaby Joyce have failed to deliver.
Our policy will uphold the Murray Darling Plan and lay the groundwork for the Plan\u2019s future by restoring integrity, boosting compliance and driving reforms.
Labor will commit $26 million to establish a National Water Commission to drive ongoing water reform, and future-proof Australia\u2019s water resources, bringing national leadership and fairness into water policy.
Labor will broaden the National Water Grid Fund investment policy, to allow funding for a broader range of projects, including for essential town water supplies in regional and remote communities.
Our five-point plan for the Murray Darling Basin comprises: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Over nearly a decade in office, the Morrison-Joyce Government has refused to implement the Murray Darling Basin Plan, and it is Basin communities that are paying the price.
The Government\u2019s refusal to act means they\u2019ve failed to deliver the final 450 GL and resulted in delays and failures on the environmental outcomes equivalent to 605 GL of water following adjustments to the recovery amounts.
They have also failed to deliver the $40 million promised for First Nations water entitlements back in 2018.
Unlike the Morrison-Joyce Government, Labor will uphold the letter and spirit of the Murray Darling Basin to keep faith with its participants and with all Australians.
For water infrastructure, we will take up the Productivity Commission\u2019s recommendation to broaden the remit of the National Water Grid Fund. As the Productivity Commission said, the fund\u2019s investment policy should neither prioritise a particular sector or class of water user, nor be limited to providing water for primary industry.
When it comes to water reform, Labor will end the drift and recognise the importance of water policy. Our National Water Commission will drive the renewal of the National Water Initiative and will better prepare Australia for future threats to water security, including climate change.
Only an Albanese Labor Government will provide the leadership needed to drive water reform, deliver water security, and uphold the Murray Darling Basin Plan.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
An Albanese Labor Government will protect Australia\u2019s precious water resources with a five-point plan for the Murray Darling Basin that strikes the right balance between the needs of local communities, farmers and the environment. The Murray Darling is Australia\u2019s biggest and most important river system and its future is critical for the livelihoods and welfare of … Continue reading “Labor\u2019s Plan to Future-Proof Australia\u2019s Water Resources”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=16043"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16044,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16043\/revisions\/16044"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=16043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=16043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=16043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}