Environmental conservation groups across four Australian states have criticised the Albanese government for failing to add additional funding from the federal budget towards meeting targets set under the Murray Darling Basin Plan (MDBP).
Environment Victoria, Nature Conservation Council NSW, Queensland Conservation Council, and the Conservation Council of South Australia have said that while the Albanese government has committed $146.8 million in the recent budget to fulfilling its election promise to complete the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, it has failed to commit funds towards delivering the final 450 gigalitres of water.
Under the plan, the final 450 gigalitres of water are an additional target on top of the legislated 2,750 gigalitres that basin states agreed on meeting back in 2018. So far, only 4.5 of the 450 gigalitres, termed “efficiency measures,” have been recovered. In total, more than 2,100 gigalitres of water have been relocated back into the environment….