One can reasonably accuse many groups and individuals invested in Murray-Darling water of the same maverick use of resources, as they extract tomorrow’s water from the Basin, apparently ignoring warnings that ever-increasing levels of extractions are unsustainable, and happy to leave it to the Federal Government to attempt to buy its way out of the water crisis with public funds. We continue to hear their glib assertions that, as they are acting within the laws of the land, it is unfair to describe them as water-barons or ecological pariahs.

The Cubbie Group, which can effectively divert the Culgoa River into its vast network of irrigation channels, frequently responds to criticism of its practices by reiterating that its activities are entirely legal, implying that Australians should therefore not be concerned about the environmental impacts and the indirect export of vast volumes of Murray-Darling water.

Grazing property, Mirage Downs, comprising 50,000 hectares on the Warrego River, was recently purchased by an overseas-funded group which intends to convert it into an intensive and water-hungry cropping enterprise, sucking-up much of the increased environmental flows which would have otherwise resulted from the Federal Government’s welcome purchase of Toorale Station.

On the banks of the Lachlan, Great Southern Investment Managers (Australia) Ltd continue to develop their 500 hectare almond irrigation project, despite CSIRO predictions that groundwater extraction in the Lachlan Valley is likely to triple over the next 20 years, effectively reducing surface water availability by about 11% and leading to a further 8% drop in water available for irrigation.

One could list countless other instances of such officially-authorised but demonstrably untenable exploitation of Murray-Darling water.

Fair Water Use believes that any perceived “right” to extract water from the Basin should impose fiduciary duties upon users, with respect to the care of the vital ecological, economic and social resource that is Murray-Darling water. Sadly, many such consumers, and especially the growing number of water-rich agribusiness enterprises, are clearly in breach of such responsibilities.

The causes of the current implosions of the global banking system and the Murray-Darling river system are starkly similar: both resulting from unfettered competition for resources and a lack of appropriate regulation. Australia can ill afford to wait, Wall Street style, for the inevitable collapse of enterprises which are gambling on the continued availability of water to drive their corporate profits into the future, whilst running the ecology and social structure of the Basin literally into the dust.

Fair Water Use has long advocated compulsory acquisition of water rights with reasonable compensation of those directly affected. Senator Wong has consistently rejected this approach, despite increasing evidence that the Federal Government’s voluntary buy-back of entitlements is proving ineffective and in the face of dire climatic and water-use projections. In any event, the question must be asked once again: why should our tax dollars be used to purchase that which was never sold?

In these times of self-serving politics, it is regrettably unlikely that our parliamentarians will demonstrate the intestinal fortitude required to endorse compulsory acquisition. Such visionary proposals tend to emanate from politically-independent bodies. In that regard, Fair Water Use repeats its call for declaration of a State of Emergency and the establishment of a Royal Commission of Enquiry – and will continue to do so until common-sense prevails.