New South Wales position on Murray Darling Basin Plan extension

The NSW Government has always been clear – we support the delivery of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full. We know this is the best pathway to fairly share our precious water resources across states, industries, towns and our environment.

As a direct result of the years of neglect, delay and inaction under the previous NSW Government, we are massively behind on our legally binding commitments under the Plan. As a state, we have a lot of work to do.

The agreement reached with the Australian Government provides a pathway for this work to happen.

The principles that informed our decision to agree to continue work on the plan with the Commonwealth are these: we recognise that we have a shared responsibility to ensure that the environmental health of our river systems is protected, while enabling our regional communities to thrive into the future.

To be clear, the NSW Government does not support water buybacks. Our position on this has not changed. We want to see the Australian Government prioritise investment in recovering water through other ways.

We have been proactive in scoping these options and putting them in front of the Commonwealth for consideration. We will not take a backwards step in advocating for the interests of NSW communities.

Importantly, the agreement that has been reached allows more time and flexibility for water infrastructure projects to be delivered, minimising the risk of further water buybacks in NSW by the Australian Government. This was a major motivating factor in agreeing to continue work under the Plan.

The extension will provide NSW with more time, more resources and a better chance of delivering the Murray-Darling Basin Plan in full for the community. Despite the mess we have been left by the previous Government, we don’t want to give up on the Murray Darling Basin Plan.

The focus of the NSW Government is getting our state back on track to meet our commitments under the Basin Plan. As a priority, we will continue to work closely with local communities, Australian Government and other Water Ministers in the Basin to create a pathway forward.