Australia: Water Wars ahead Now Australia’s Longest River Officially Critically Endangered

Jan 15, 2026 | Mike Foley
Sydney Morning Herald
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Australia’s longest waterway is under such dire threat of collapse that the entire lower Murray River ecosystem, which stretches nearly 1000 kilometres from western NSW, through Victoria and to the sea in South Australia has been classified as critically endangered.

The new designation was announced by Environment Minister Murray Watt on Thursday, sounding the alarm on the river’s health and setting up a potential conflict with big agribusiness and a political battle with the federal Opposition, as the Albanese government blames their predecessors for a decade of inaction on conservation.