The Murray-Darling Basin Plan and associated controversy continues to make news. Monday night’s ABC Four Corners program ‘Cash Splash’ looked at the alleged waste of taxpayer money under the multi-billion plan.
The program reported:
"The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is a triple bottom line fail. It's a fail for communities, it's a fail for the economy and it's absolutely a fail for the environment." - Business owner
"I would characterise it as pink batts for farmers, or pink batts for earth movers. It all had to happen in a short space of time." - Contractor
"We're degrading the rivers at the same time as we're handing out money to a few individuals to realise huge economic gains at public cost." - Ecologist
"Anyone can come in and buy water. You don't even have to be a farmer...You're going to make money out of it, and that's what a lot of people are doing, unfortunately." - Farmer
"We're talking about billions of dollars in taxpayers' money on a scheme that many, many capable and reliable scientists have said, this isn't going to work." - Lawyer
A link to the ABC's Cash Splash video and transcript is available here.
The program follows an earlier Four Corners investigation in relation to alleged water theft in the Murray-Darling Basin, and the South Australian Royal Commission into the Murray-Darling Basin which in early 2019 reported its findings in relation to maladministration and negligence by the Murray-Darling Basin Authority.
See our previous articles on this topic below:
Royal Commission finds Murray-Darling Basin Plan partly unlawful
What were the key findings of the SA Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission?
The Murray-Darling Basin Plan controversy
Author: Dr Joseph Monaghan
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