Murray-Darling systems not assessed for endangered listing after officials warned Coalition would not support it

Exclusive: FoI documents reveal struggling systems were clear candidates' for protection but Sussan Ley unlikely to support' it

Struggling river and wetland systems in the Murray-Darling Basin were not assessed for listing as critically endangered after officials warned the Morrison government would not support protecting them.

Environment department staff said the two ecological communities were clear candidates" for assessment for a critically endangered listing, documents released under freedom of information show. But the environment minister, Sussan Ley, was unlikely to support" their inclusion on the 2019 list of species and habitats under consideration for protection, they told the threatened species scientific committee.