Call to take politics out of Basin plan

A major fruit and vegetable processor is pleading for science to drive the management of the Murray Darling River Basin, not politics. The Chair of SPC Hussain Rifai has told Sky News rising water prices would not only hit local growers but the businesses that help put produce on supermarket shelves. Mr Rifai says SPC suppliers, and local growers in and around Shepparton and the Golden Valley need water supply certainty. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan sets limits on how much water can be used for irrigation, and drinking water, to ensure the long-term health of the environment. Victoria is the only state that hasn’t agreed to the Murray-Darling Basin plan because of buybacks.