THE Victorian Government has pulled out all stops to complete two of its most controversial infrastructure projects before next year's November state election.
The Government last week laid the last section of the controversial $750 million north-south pipeline, which it hopes will deliver 75,000 megalitres to Melbourne from the Goulburn River.
The completion of the pipeline came a week after Premier John Brumby bid farewell to the Dutch dredger that removed 23 million cubic metres of sand and silt from Port Phillip Bay's shipping channels to boost the Port of Melbourne's efficiency.
Both projects have been dogged by numerous protests and threats of legal action.
The channel-deepening project came under attack from environment groups and residents who warned it would create "cancer-causing" toxic plumes and irreversible damage.
Opponents of the north-south pipeline focused attention on rallies, obstructing construction and accusations of trespass against pipeline workers.
Even with the pipeline's completion, the Government still faces an uphill battle trying to deliver crucial amendments allowing it to pump water down the pipeline to Melbourne.
As the the last section of pipe in the Yarra Valley was being laid last week, the Government was preparing to make a second bid at gazetting crucial amendments, to protect and divert water savings from northern Victoria's $2.2 billion irrigation modernisation works to Melbourne via the pipeline.
Its first attempt to protect the amendments failed after the Opposition, Greens and DLP independent disallowed the amendments to the Eildon-Goulburn bulk entitlement, on August 12, arguing the amendments failed to guarantee water savings were well audited and shared, according to past promises made by the government.
Amending the bulk entitlement allows the Government to borrow and store some of these savings from the environment and irrigators to meet Melbourne's needs before the Wonthaggi desalination plant comes on line in 2012.
As previously reported in The Weekly Times, about 10,000 megalitres of water savings earmarked for Melbourne from northern Victoria's $2.2 billion food bowl project will have to be allocated to irrigators this season if the amendments are disallowed by the Victorian Upper House.
The Government has already advertised that it will reintroduce the amendments in a bid to protect the estimated 10,000 megalitres of existing water savings already saved.
But if the amendments are gazetted this week, the Coalition and Greens will again have the opportunity to disallow them.
Greens Water spokesman Greg Barber said it was unlikely a disallowance motion would be drafted this week if the Government re-gazetted.
