The ABC 4 Corners program “Pumped”,
which screened on July 24, 2017, showed that far from saving the river
system, the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has created a
financial windfall for a select few.
Political corruption and fraud have been a part of the process from
the beginning, ensuring that big irrigators, who are also National Party
donors, have been the major beneficiaries of the extra environmental
water being returned to the river. Water speculation has been
encouraged. Environmental water purchases have ended up as simply a way
to privatise water for the financial gain of a handful of big corporate
irrigators.
