TRANSCRIPT:
The floodgates have opened over Australia's most complex river system.
A bill to amend the management plan for the Murray Darling Basin is now before the Parliament, introduced by Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek.
To address years of drought and water over-allocation to industry, agriculture and communities, the plan aimed to return 450 gigalitres of additional water to the environment by June.
The legislation has pushed this deadline to December, 2027.
Tanya Plibersek says Labor has been doing everything it can to address what she's described as years of neglect by the former Coalition government.
"More recently we have seen a very different picture. More than 80 percent of the water that has been delivered towards the plan has been done when Labor is in government, only 16 percent under those opposite. And in fact, when I became the Water Minister, just 2 gigalitres of the 450 gigalitres of additional environmental water had been delivered."
She says the revised management plan is the best way forward.
"This plan delivers more time, more money, more options and more accountability. We are determined to see more water returned for the environment, more certainty for farmers and communities, and the three million people who rely on this river system for their drinking water."
But the opposition is not quite convinced.
Coalition water spokeswoman Senator Perin Davey says the Murray Darling Basin plan has always enjoyed a certain level of bipartisan support over the years - but that support is now being tested.
"Certain sections, they continue to have bipartisan support, such as the extension to deadlines - which also has the support of certain state governments including Victoria and New South Wales. But tying those extensions to reopening (water) buybacks and to weakening the social and economic protections that were written into the 2012 Basin plan by Tony Burke is really testing the friendship. That's why I am calling for these amendments to go to a comprehensive Senate inquiry, and for that inquiry to travel to the regions, to talk to the communities that will be most impacted by these changes."
The Greens say they can't support the revised plan in its current form.
They want stringent oversight mechanisms added to ensure all 450 gigalitres earmarked for the environment are in fact recovered.
Senator Sarah Hanson-Young from South Australia says there's already been a decade of broken promises when it comes to managing the water in the Basin.
"There's a long way to go. How much is going to be delivered by the end of next financial year? How much is going to be brought back before the next election? We can't just wait to get to 2027, and we discover not much more has been secured. All the legislation provides right now is a promise. Well, we know what happens to promises when it comes to the Murray, and comes to South Australia. The Labor party and the Liberal party continue to break them."
The revised plan is also expected to attract some pushback outside of Parliament.
Victoria and its farmers remain opposed to the new plan in its current form.
Andrew Leahy from the Victorian Farmers Federation says it's destroyed over a hundred years of cooperative management of the Murray River, and left farming communities in Victoria’s north on edge.
First Nations communities meanwhile say the current plan is meant to oblige authorities to have regard for Indigenous values and water uses - but they're routinely overlooked.
They say the revised plan doesn't guarantee First Nations rights to own and control water on their country.
