Senator Hanson-Young has long fought to secure the future of the Murray-Darling. After a decade of corporate greed and over-extraction at the hands of the Coalition, in 2023 she was able to negotiate with the Labor Government to deliver critical protections for the Murray-Darling Basin.
This included legislating the recovery of 450GL for SA, locking in real protections for the health of the river and putting trust back into the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, and securing $17 million to improve shorebird and wetland habitat across the Coorong and Lower Lakes.
The fight for the Murray isn’t over!
The Greens’ plan for the environment will ensure 1% of the federal budget is dedicated to Australia’s precious natural environment, to protect at least 30% of ecosystems by 2030, and restore Australia's natural legacy like the Murray-Darling Basin for generations.
The Greens are committed to shoring up water security and restoring ecosystems and waterways across Australia, which is why we will allocate $20 billion over a decade to biodiversity restoration. This will be targeted towards threatened species and ecosystem recovery, including projects that boost the health of the Basin ecosystems by restoring natural flows and reducing fish kills, and an additional $200 million directly allocated to restoring our rivers to swimmable conditions.
To secure the future of the Murray-Darling, the Greens plan includes:
- $120 million for the management of the Murray-Darling Basin in the face of climate change, including $100 million for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan review in 2026 to focus on building in adaptive climate management and $20 million to ensure funding secured by the Greens for the Coorong is ongoing over the forwards.
- Re-establish the National Water Commission and expand its remit to ensure transparency and accountability remains a priority within the MDBP.
- Introduce a First Nations commissioner to guide the protection and management of our country’s environment and cultural heritage.
This election, the Greens are within reach of being placed in the centre of a power-sharing Parliament, where we will push the Labor Government even further and faster on environmental issues, including the Murray-Darling Basin. It is more important than ever that we re-elect Sarah to the Senate so she can continue these important fights in Canberra and push the Government to deliver more for SA and our environment.
Only the Greens will fight for our environment and our Murray.
Together, we can keep Peter Dutton out of the Lodge and away from our Murray, and push Labor to act on the things that matter
