Vic Govt under fire over Goulburn River exclusion
Posted
A northern Victorian farmers' group has accused the State Government of sneaky tactics when signing up to the Murray-Darling Basin agreement.
It recently agreed to the Commonwealth's takeover of the basin, subject to funding for the Foodbowl Modernisation Plan.
But the Plug the Pipe group is angry the Goulburn River will remain under state control and is worried that continued state control of the Goulburn will see more water diverted to Melbourne.
Spokesman Ken Pattison says that is because it means there will be no limit to how much water the Government can take from the region.
"It means the Victorian Premier is now able to take any amount of water by pipeline through to Melbourne which will remove environmental water and water entitlements and the security of those entitlements to the Goulburn Murray system," he said.
The Victorian Government has rejected criticism about the Goulburn River being excluded from the Commonwealth takeover of the Murray-Darling Basin.
A spokesman for Water Minister Tim Holding says the Goulburn River and other tributaries have never been part of Murray-Darling Basin agreements.
He says Victorian control means it does not have to share water from the Goulburn with the other basin states unlike the sharing arrangements for the Murray River.
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