In no time you'll know your overland flows from your water buybacks and everything in between. theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
A: Joyce is under fire because of an $80m deal he approved as water minister in 2017. The company that received the payment, Eastern Australia Agriculture (EAA), booked a $52m profit on the deal, much of which appears to have been transferred ...
That company was co-founded by the energy minister, Angus Taylor, who has stated that he has no current involvement in the company and has received no benefit.
A: Good qs. @GuardianAus wrote about the deal in early March 2018
theguardian.com/environment/20…
and @TheAusInstitute published a detailed report about the same time.
tai.org.au/content/thats-…
& dissected in a segment on @theprojecttv, while Taylor threatening to sue the tweeters propelled the story further. Its re-emergence during the election campaign also helped push the story to the front pgs
A: Too much water is taken out of the Murray-Darling Basin for irrigation, as 1m dead fish & towns with no water have demonstrated …
A: When we say irrigators “own water”, what we mean is that they own the right to use an amount of water each year. …
A: You’re new here, aren’t you?!
There were several of these “strategic buybacks” during Joyce’s time as water minister. Another was just near Menindee, where the fish kills were. …
No other business in the Lower Darling/Barka region has received a deal like this. This is like selling your car for $10,000 and getting another $10,000 to cover future taxi fares. …
A: The key point is that the Murray-Darling system is being hopelessly mismanaged and is deeply politicised. But it’s not political in the usual ways of left-right, environment v farming, or upstream v downstream politics. …
Question: If the deal was in 2017 why is this big now?
Answer: Good question.
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Question: Sounds simple. Aside from the price tag and the Joyce Caymans thing, what's the problem here?
Answer:
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Question: OK, so we paid $80m for water we can't really rely on. It can't get any worse, can it?
Answer: You're new here, aren't you?!
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
Question: What's the takeaway message here?
Answer:
theguardian.com/commentisfree/…
And if you've made it this far, maybe you like what @GuardianAus does. If you want to, you can be a part of it & help us do more: support.theguardian.com/au/contribute