NORTH-south pipeline opponents could soon tap into the Australian Farmers Fighting Fund to mount a legal challenge against the project.

The Victorian Farmers Federation has backed protest group Plug the Pipe's application for fighting fund finance, which has been lodged with the National Farmers' Federation.

Plug the Pipe spokeswoman Jan Beer said the group was challenging the Victorian Government's right to enter and take possession of farmers' land under Section 133 of the Water Act.

Gaining fighting fund support support would give Plug the Pipe members the financial backing they need to take out an injunction against construction of the pipeline, which would then prompt a quick Supreme Court hearing.

"The only way we can get it into court (quickly) is to take out an injunction," Ms Beer said.

"(But) you have to be able to cover production delay costs if you lose."

Those costs would amount to millions of dollars.

VFF president Simon Ramsay said he supported the Plug the Pipe action because the Government had unfairly used the Water Act to gain access to farmers' land.

"The Government used the Water Act because it required less notification and was speedier (than using the Land Acquisition and Compensation Act)," Mr Ramsay said.

The LAC Act states the: "Authority must not acquire any interest in land in respect of which a notice of intention to acquire has been served before the expiration of two months after the service of that notice".

Once the land is purchased the Government must then wait another three months before it can enter the land.

However, the Government and Melbourne Water have repeatedly stated: "Section 133 of the Water Act allows Melbourne Water employees and contractors to lawfully enter private properties to conduct works under the Act".

"This is similar to other utility authorities entering properties to install other vital infrastructure and services, like gas and telephone lines, across the state," Melbourne Water stated.

However, barrister Serge Petrovich, who is acting for Plug the Pipe members, said the Government had abused its powers by using the Water Act to arbitrarily take possession and control of farmers' land.

"It's a threshold issue, and the High Court has canned governments before for doing it," he said.

Mr Petrovich is representing Plug the Pipe farmer members in separate Magistrate Court cases against Melbourne Water staff for trespassing.

Mr Ramsay said NFF president David Crombie had offered to hold a teleconference of NFF's policy council to consider whether to the refer the application to the fund's trustees.

Mr Ramsay said fund trustees would consider whether the case had national implications for all farmers.

The secretive fund was used to finance the 1998 wharf dispute and the recent Ralph Hahnheuser pork case.