Water

Water and the Murray Darling Basin plan has been the hot topic in the media of late with protestors having placed a call to “Can the Murray-Darling Basin Plan”. Water Minister David Littleproud has responded by committing to an investigation into how states share water. The commitment is subject to approval by the States’ water ministers

Controversy surrounding the Murray Darling Basin plan’s state-based water sharing arrangements and the impact on irrigators follows on from an ongoing ACCC enquiry into transparency of the water market for allocation and entitlement trades. The ACCC’s final report due for release in November 2020 will focus on factors driving changes in water markets and water prices such as how market participants (including irrigators, investors, water brokers, water exchanges, water registries and others) access and use market information. Australian Grape and Wine’s submission to the enquiry can be accessed here.