Our rivers and groundwater are precious. 

But mining companies want to take the Latrobe river’s water to fill the three huge coal mine pits at Hazelwood, Yallourn, and Loy Yang. 

About 637 gigalitres of water would be needed to fill Hazelwood alone, which is bigger than Sydney Harbour. 

Meanwhile, big AI data centres in the Latrobe Valley are buying enormous quantities of fresh river water to cool their facilities. 

Farmers, communities, and the environment depend on the health of the Latrobe river system. It is already flow-stressed due to overextraction and climate change. 

Diverting massive quantities of fresh water from the system into mine pits and data centres threatens the future of ecosystems along the Latrobe River right to the Gippsland Lakes, as well as food production and water supply for local communities. 

The future of our rivers – and the communities that depend on them – is at stake.

Labor is gifting our precious fresh water to coal mining companies and big AI data centres, selling it off to them cheaply, while farmers, communities and the environment bear the cost.

But it doesn’t have to be this way. These companies could be banned from using fresh river and groundwater sources for their operations, and instead be made to invest in their own water sources, like recycled water.

The campaign to save the Franklin River in 1983 was part of the foundation story of the Greens’ movement, and a key moment in our nation’s history. 

It showed that when communities come together, we can overcome corporate power and shift political decisions.

The Greens continue to fight alongside communities to save our precious waterways from industrial destruction.

Add your name to pressure the government to

protect the Latrobe River.