Withdraw from the Murray-Darling Basin Plan

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan and its enforcement agent, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority, have predictably failed in the shielding the country from cyclical droughts via regulation. Regulatory capture by those with water interests and ideologically-motivated goals of the plan initially to “return” water to the environment have seen several negative outcomes such as fish kills, avoidable flood and drought within a short period and very low crop yields.

Attempts to fix these issues federally have proven futile, so New South Wales should simply withdraw itself from the plan.

• Withdraw from the Murray-Darling Basin Plan
• Amend the Water Management Act 2000 (NSW), restoring basic rights to landowners
• Institute a Parliamentary Inquiry into the Water Management (General) Regulation 2018 and the extent to which senior public servants, NSW politicians and others with water interests may have captured this regulatory framework