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A million dead fish, floating on putrid green water. Images of this ecological catastrophe on the Darling River over summer shocked the nation. Was it the result of drought? Blue-green algae poisoning? After at least four published reports, we know the answers. It's time to state plainly what has been going on, and who is to blame.
A key benefit asserted to justify treating water as an economic good is that the market will encourage 'high-value' water use to be prioritised. But, as the fish of the Darling River and the people of Walgett are experiencing, the problem with commodifying water is its social and environment values are not naturally reflected in the market.
A Riverina farmer told ABC Radio that the environment will always survive, but once communities die, they're gone. The truth is that without protecting the ecological health of the rivers, dependent communities will not survive.
At last, an Australian government has presented for public consideration an intelligently conceived framework for a national carbon emissions plan. Has Gillard broken her pre-election 'no carbon tax' promise? Does it matter?
Tony Windsor is proving himself to be a politician of integrity and tact, but has his work cut out for him in the case of the Murray-Darling Basin irrigators. Mary MacKillop was a champion of rural and regional Australians. It is worth considering her strategy in the context of the irrigators' struggle for survival.
Federal Water Resources Minister Malcolm Turnbull must expect to spend big in winning the trust of the recalcitrant Victorian irrigators. WIthout their hearts and minds, the Federal Government's $10.5 billion Murray-Darling rescue strategy is doomed to failure.
Australia is not infinite; there is a limit to our productive capacity and we may well have already exceeded it. One of the unmentionable and politically incorrect questions is how many people the continent can sustain while retaining some respect for the integrity of the landscape.
Farmers and water
Paul Martin finds Victoria’s Water Act is full of holes.