Victorian Water Minister Lisa Neville has failed to secure any meaningful change for Victorian irrigators at this week’s Murray Darling Basin Ministerial Council.
The Council agreed to assess water efficiency projects to be delivered under the Murray Darling Basin Plan, however they already need to meet criteria requiring them to have a neutral or positive effect on Basin communities.
The Minister also walked away without having secured more than a token gesture from other states on new developments in the Lower Murray.
Without a firm commitment from NSW and SA to implement a moratorium on new developments downstream of the choke, Victoria’s risks driving development over the river.
Lisa Neville’s disappointing lack of progress has failed to deliver certainty for Victorian irrigators and our Basin communities.