The NSW government’s threat to walk away from the Murray-Darling Basin plan has protesters in Sydney seeing red.

February 16, 2018

Protesters have gathered outside state parliament in Sydney to vent their fury over the NSW government’s threat to walk away from the Murray-Darling Basin plan.

The protest came after federal Labor and Greens senators on Wednesday voted down changes that would have secured more water for farmers, which angered the states.

NSW Water Minister Niall Blair said the plan was now “untenable” for the state’s farming communities along the river system, and that walking away from it would allow the future of western NSW to be secured.

Queensland urged NSW and Victoria to stay in the agreement which was signed by the Gillard Labor government in 2012.

GetUp! campaign director Emily Mulligan said Mr Blair’s stance on the agreement, which took a decade to negotiate, could shatter the river’s best chance of survival.

“It’s already in a dire state, this plan is the best shot we have at a functioning thriving healthy river system into the future,” she said on Friday

“If NSW does follow through on this tantrum, the whole plan could collapse.”

The amendments would have reduced the amount of water returned to the environment by 70GL.

The Murray-Darling system takes in 23 rivers, supports more than four million people and stretches across South Australia, Victoria, NSW and Queensland.

Protester Suzanne Blagrove said it was critical that the Murray-Darling Basin agreement stands and isn’t tampered with.

“Any betrayal of this agreement is appalling, governments shouldn’t be able to just drop out,” Ms Blagrove told AAP.