The Productivity Commission\u2019s scathing report into the Murray Darling Basin Plan shows it is failing and needs serious reform and transparency, the Greens say.
\n\u201cThe Productivity Commission\u2019s scathing assessment of the Murray Darling Basin Plan is summed up perfectly in one sentence:<\/p>\n
\u201cRecovering water through efficiency measures has become increasingly divorced from the environmental outcomes it is meant to achieve.\u201d(p22)<\/i><\/b><\/p>\n
\u201cThis report is a damning assessment of the Federal Government and its agencies\u2019 mismanagement of the Murray Darling Basin. It shows that the original purpose of the Plan to restore the heath of the River has been undermined and the money spent is going not to the environmental outcomes but instead filling then pockets of irrigators,\u201d Greens environment and water spokesperson Senator Sarah Hanson-Young said.
\n\u201cThe $13 billion of taxpayers money is not going where it was intended.\u00a0 Political interference from both state and federal governments has undermined the independence of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, making it an agency of government, not an Authority that looks after the River.
\n\u201cNo wonder the Government is trying to bury this report. Releasing it on a Friday before the Australia Day long weekend, shows just how desperate the Minister is to keep Australians in the dark.
\n\u201cThe Productivity Commission makes a number of salient points, but overall the scathing assessment shows that river communities and the environment have been failed by the mismanagement of the Murray Darling Basin Plan and urgent reforms are needed.
\n\u201cThe report calls out the lack of independence and teeth of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, showing it cannot be trusted to enforce the management rules of the River. They have a conflict of interest and are not genuinely independent. The Basin states, Federal Government and Murray Darling Basin Authority have ignored what this Plan was set out to do \u2013 improve the environmental health of the River.
\n\u201cWe need a cop on the beat \u2013 a independent authority with teeth \u2013 that can crack down on the mismanagement and corruption ignored by Governments, bureaucrats and corporate irrigators. We need an urgent Royal Commission.
\n\u201cThe Productivity Commission again proves that water buy backs are the most economically efficient and environmentally effective way to restore health to the River.
\n\u201cWith the River in environmental collapse, those responsible must be held to account. The big cotton lobby, corruption, mismanagement and lack of transparency have undermined the Plan that was meant to save the Murray Darling Basin. Heads should roll. Only a Federal Royal Commission can sort through the rot. It\u2019s clear the Water Minister and his corporate irrigator mates cannot be trusted.
\n\u201cPeople in river communities are without clean drinking water and the environment is suffering. We need urgent action now to reverse the River\u2019s fate before it is too late.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The Productivity Commission\u2019s scathing report into the Murray Darling Basin Plan shows it is failing and needs serious reform and transparency, the Greens say. \u201cThe Productivity Commission\u2019s scathing assessment of the Murray Darling Basin Plan is summed up perfectly in one sentence: \u201cRecovering water through efficiency measures has become increasingly divorced from the environmental outcomes … Continue reading “Murray Darling Basin Plan managers get an F”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1353","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1353\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}