“This is an amazing day for the Australian environment, for the million square kilometres of inland Australia that these rivers sustain.”
NSW Irrigators Council chief executive officer Claire Miller:
“There are absolutely no restraints on the government to go ahead and keep taking more and more water out of the farming pool and only pay lip service to communities afterwards
“The government has abandoned all the socio-economic limits that were in the original plan.”
The Victorian senator
National Party Victorian Senator Bridget McKenzie:
“It has been put to me by the dairy industry, particularly in Victoria, that they’ve kept turning up to the engagement opportunities but they are never heard because they are in the wrong part of the basin and they are not members of the Greens political party.
“They live in the basin and they want to be part of the solution. The best decisions are made when you make use of the people who are closest to the situation.
“But the people in these communities have been silenced; they have been listened to, but not actually heard.
“The Minister has not answered the question why you are going over the 450 Gl, which was never part of the original basin plan.”
The environmentalist
Environment Victoria chief executive officer Jono La Nauze:
“This new legislation offers the Murray-Darling a lifeline, giving rivers, wetlands and wildlife a fighting chance of survival ahead of looming drought.
“Dodgy deals and delays have seen the basin plan grind to a halt this past decade, and our rivers have paid the price.
“This legislation allows the Albanese Government to start voluntary water buybacks again, a vital solution for river health that is supported by 63 per cent of regional Australians.
“The legislation also creates a pathway for First Nations to have a much greater say over how their waterways are managed, an important acknowledgement of the crucial role they have always played in caring for Country.”
The Coalition
Shadow Water Minister Perin Davey:
“It has always been the case that the 450 Gl only delivers additional environmental benefit if constraints can be dealt with.
“Without that you are just dribbling water down the system with no additional environmental benefit and in some cases, causing environmental harm through bank scouring due to consistent flows at bank level.”
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