Keep the lifeblood for our wildlife, farms and cities flowing. The mighty Murray-Darling Basin is Australia’s largest and most heavily exploited river system. Its wetlands and waterways are the traditional homelands of 40 Indigenous nations, and the last refuge for many threatened species. Fish, birds, farms, communities and cities all depend on its water. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan reconnects our river with its floodplains and makes sure there’s enough river water to flow all the way from the Great Dividing Range to the sea. It will lead to healthier rivers and wetlands, wildlife, water tables, and soil. But having a plan is one thing; making our governments follow and implement it is another. Right now, a few rogue irrigators and their political backers are lobbying hard against the Murray-Darling Basin Plan. They’re trying to erode it, bit by bit, so they can rig the rules and take more than their fair share of river water. It’s time to turn this around.
Stick to the plan
It’s time for people who care across the basin to come together and keep the pressure on our governments to finish what they started. It’s time for Prime Minister Turnbull to step up and make sure everyone sticks to the rules in the Basin Plan. That means saying no to the rogue irrigators and cashed-up lobbyists and delivering the Basin Plan – on time and in full. If we do it right, we will be able to keep swimming and fishing in our rivers – and the mighty Murray will flow all the way to the sea. Farms and fields will be green and gold and our rivers will support life and communities right across the basin for generations to come. Wetlands will croak with once-endangered frogs. Brolgas and rare Australasian bitterns will wade through swamps, and our rivers will teem with spawning native fish. Let’s keep the river in the river!