If little else, Managing Director of Coliban Water, Gavin Hanlon, is to be commended for his frankness. Unlike many of his counterparts, he is quite transparent in his promotion of increased water consumption and his welcoming of the 7% increase in water usage by his customers in the past financial year.

At the risk of pouring virtual rain on his parade, Fair Water Use would like to remind Mr Hanlon  that the Murray-Darling is in the midst of a crippling water shortage and that it is projected that by 2025 (less than one generation from now), around two thirds of the global population will face water scarcity.

Mr Hanlon, do not think for one moment that we will be insulated from this likely catastrophe. Australia has been identified a "hot stain": a region of the Earth currently running out of potable water. The blatant water-mongering of activities of the likes of Coliban Water do nothing but hasten the onset of Australia's water deficiency, and must be roundly condemned.

Fair Water Use repeats its call for the declaration of a State of Emergency in the Murray-Darling Basin and the establishment of a Commission of Enquiry into its administration and governance - and will continue to do so until sanity prevails.