A WEEK is a long time in politics, especially when it comes to the Victorian Coalition's water policy.

For months, Nationals leader Peter Ryan has refused to answer questions on whether a Coalition Government would turn off the controversial north-south pipeline if it gained office in 2010.

"I will never concede that it's going to be built . . . and therefore any commentary about its future is utterly hypothetical," Mr Ryan said in May.

But by 10am last Thursday, Mr Ryan's argument fell apart, as Water Minister Tim Holding stood on Sugarloaf Reservoir's shores to launch the start of the construction of the pipeline.

The Nationals and their Liberal Coalition partners finally realised they had to answer the question: If you form Government in 2010, will you turn off the pipeline or take the water?

Amazingly, former litigation lawyer Peter Ryan and his water spokesman, Peter Walsh, persuaded their Liberal Coalition partners to adopt a policy of not taking water from the pipeline if elected.

Within five hours of Mr Holding's Sugarloaf announcement, Mr Walsh and Liberal urban water spokeswoman Louise Asher rolled out their new policy to the applause of pipeline opponents Plug the Pipe.

But the wheels soon fell off the Coalition's new policy as Melbourne's business community slammed the Liberals for putting 3.8 million people's water supply at risk.

The business community has always argued Melbourne, and thus the state, faced an economic meltdown if the city's water supplies ran low. Several MPs among the Liberal ranks have long argued the party could not afford to reject the pipeline's flows.

So it wasn't surprising when Liberal Leader Ted Baillieu did an embarrassing policy backflip this week, announcing the Coalition would now take water from the pipeline.

But did the announcement result in a flurry of press releases from pipeline opponents Plug the Pipe?

No, in fact all we heard were sympathetic noises from Plug the Pipe members.

The failure of this group to criticise the Coalition's backflip raises serious questions about its political bias.

The key question now is, will the Nationals make a stand?

The answer is no.

It seems old habits die hard when it comes to the Nationals in Coalition with the Liberals.

As happened in the days of the former Kennett Government, the Nationals once again are being forced into an embarrassing compromise.