Recently a  radio commentator signed off by saying "we have spent billions of dollars on the MDB, yet the Lower Darling has ceased to flow". The speaker clearly believed that this statement said it all. In fact, it is a non sequitur. It simply does not follow that spending billions will create flow events. Nature … Continue reading Murray Darling Basin-Entitlements and Allocations →

Reminder from 2011Remember that book "Lies, Damned Lies and Statistics"? Well,we are seeing that theme borne out in the debate leading up to the next iteration of a Murray Darling Basin Plan. Leaks from Canberra have suggested that the new report will state that 2,800 GL should be recovered "for the river" by way of … Continue reading Murray Darling Basin Statistics →

28.05.2011Those of us who care about Australia's future (sustainable) productive capacity,must beware of being lulled into a "negotiating stance". If we believe, as I do, that talking about reduced extractions in terms of absolute numbers which relate to the maximum (100% allocation) figures applicable to Licenses, (7000 or 4,000 or 2,800 GL) is meaningless, then … Continue reading Murray Darling Basin Debating Terms →

November, 2011John Cox has written a great article putting some hard numbers on my much repeated point about Australian river flow variability and the difference between allocations and entitlement volumes. Here is an extract.There is no evidence that the sustainable diversion limits in this report were influenced by any social or economic outcomes, as the … Continue reading Murray Darling Basin Plan and Variability →

18.12.2010I follow Malcolm Turnbull on Twitter. Why? Because I have found him intelligent and interesting. When he was John Howard's Parliamentary Secretary for Water we had him out to Bourke to discuss irrigation issues and I was very impressed how quickly he got his mind around them. I was surprised by his commitment to the … Continue reading Murray Darling Basin Plan-Malcolm Turnbull →

The following letter was given 'Letter of the week" status in The Land of March 15-The letter from Diana Gibbs (The Land,March 1) a Board Member of the Murray Darling Basin Authority, raises some fundamental issues. We need to remember that the  Water Act was drafted at a time of extreme pressure from drought and green … Continue reading Letter to The Land-15.03.2012 →

11.05.2012In a speech to the Practical Responses to Climate Change Conference on 2nd May the C.E. of the Murray Darling Basin Authority said the following:-"Leaving aside the challenges of climate science uncertainty for a moment, I would like to turn to what we can be certain about.  There is more than enough information to be … Continue reading  Murray Darling Basin "Over-allocation" →

​Hansard​ 13.02.18Senator LEYONHJELM: I'm tempted to vote in favour of this disallowance. What holds me back is that I'm not sure if New South Wales and Victoria would, in fact, stand by their decision to walk away from the plan. But I wouldn't be too upset if they were to walk away from the plan, … Continue reading Murray Darling Plan-Disallowance Motion-Leyonhjelm Spot-On. →

Letter to the Editor of the AustralianIn its penultimate paragraph your article “Up to their eyes in it but entitlement denied”-The Australian 17 October; reads”....nature has remained the true determinant of the health of the Murray Darling”. This is a profoundly accurate truism. The failure of our scientists and water bureaucrats to recognise this, is … Continue reading Profound MDB Comment →

From the time that the Howard Government, in an attempt to garner "green" votes, decided to throw $10bn at the Murray Darling Basin, the management of the Basin has been a political football. This vote chasing initiative arose as the great Millennium Drought was biting hard and water shortages, the natural consequences of drought, were being erroneously blamed on … Continue reading Submission to the Select Senate Committee on the Murray Darling BasinPlan →