They Can’t Count The Water

In the NSW Parliamentary Inquiry into the Restoring Our Rivers Act, chaired by Roy Butler, is a finding that should stop every Australian cold.

The inquiry could not establish how much water in the Murray-Darling Basin has actually been recovered for the environment.

Over 100 submissions. Hearings across the state. And the conclusion is that nobody knows the real number.

The federal government is ripping productive water out of rural communities through buybacks, hollowing out our towns, killing rice, killing dairy, killing jobs, and they cannot tell you how much they have already taken.

You do not get to take more from people when you cannot count what you have. No business runs that way. No household runs that way. Only Canberra runs that way, because no one is forcing them to show their working.

The Butler inquiry recommended alternatives like water leases be properly explored before another drop is bought back. That is the floor, not the ceiling.

We need the truth under oath. Where the water is. Who holds it. What it bought.