Premier Daniel Andrews and federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek have batted away questions over Victoria's strident resistance to the revised Murray-Darling Basin plan.
The minister this week struck a new deal with the NSW, South Australian, Queensland and ACT governments to ensure promised water under the plan would be returned to the environment but over a longer period.
The timeline to recover 450 gigalitres of water has been pushed out until the end of 2027 and water infrastructure projects until the end of 2026, after the initial June 2024 target was on track to be missed.
The new plan includes more options and funding to deliver the remaining water, such as through voluntary buybacks.
Victoria is the only basin state that has not agreed to the deal, citing its long-standing opposition to water buybacks.
Flanked by Mr Andrews at a Melbourne recycling plant on Thursday, Ms Plibersek said it was in the interests of Victoria to sign up but declined to criticise her Labor colleagues over the decision.
"I'm not here today to talk about the Murray-Darling Basin plan," she told reporters.
The former federal Labor deputy leader said talks between the governments were ongoing and suggested she and Mr Andrews were on good terms.
"I've got a great relationship with premier Andrews, I've been a long-time admirer of his leadership," she added.
"We'll just keep working through the details. Thanks."
Mr Andrews insisted Victorians would not be worse off for not signing up to the new deal, before trying to redirect discussion.
"It's the government’s prerogative to choose the things that we want to talk about today, and the things we want to talk about tomorrow," he said.
"I've got no announcements to make about those matters.
"I don’t know, maybe there might be a question or two about this."
The 12-year plan to restore the nation's largest and most complex river system, which runs through four states and dozens of towns and cities, was created in 2012 after years of overuse and the devastating millennium drought.
