He says the government’s refusal to invest funding into water metering, monitoring and research is threatening the integrity of the Murray Darling Basin plan.

It is making a mockery of claims the plan will be based on science and not on political decisions.

Mark Coulton, the MHR (The Nationals) for Parkes, NSW, since 2007 says the government’s insistence on rushing the plan to meet its 2011 deadline has severely restricted the level of research that is needed to ensure it is successful.

“For Kevin Rudd and Penny Wong, this plan is about saving face, not about saving the Murray Darling Basin,” he says.

“The Minister for Water, Penny Wong, has had the power to appoint commissioners to the Murray Darling Basin Authority to begin work on the Basin Plan since the government came to power.

“The Government has also spent time and money justifying the ridiculous decision to steal water out of the MDB and send it to Melbourne, instead of trying to fix the myriad of issues in the MDB.

"The admission this week by Murray Darling Basin Authority executive director Les Roberts that “large slabs” of the river will remain unmapped by credible environmental science by the time the plan is implemented in 2011 should be ringing alarm bells.

“This plan is the blueprint for the Government’s $12.9 billion Murray River takeover but yet they still do not think it’s important enough for a comprehensive analysis of the environmental science,.

“The money for this type of research is there - the former Coalition Government set aside more than $620 million for metering and monitoring of the basin.

“But it seems this money has disappeared alongside the Rudd Government’s will to protect the Nations food security, the social and economic fabric of MDB communities, and restore the long-term health of the Murray Darling Basin.”