AAP Image/Supplied by Natural Resources Access Regulator

Water theft laws and penalties in the Murray‑Darling Basin are a dog’s breakfast. Here’s how we can fix them

Inconsistent laws and penalties for water theft in the Murray-Darling Basin make compliance and enforcement especially challenging. But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Australia’s reputation for strict farming standards helped its beef industry weather the BSE crisis. Malcolm Paterson/CSIRO/Wikimedia Commons

Australia shouldn’t sacrifice food safety standards for free trade

Ten years on from the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement, Australia is entering another round of negotiations towards the new and controversial Trans-Pacific Partnership. In this Free Trade Scorecard series…
Spending on water-saving infrastructure could expose Murray-Darling farmers to debt and drought. Michelle Bartsch/Flickr

The latest Murray‑Darling plan could leave farmers high and dry

The federal government’s approach for the Murray-Darling Basin Plan has shifted again, and now favours water-saving infrastructure over purchasing water rights. But is it the right move? The new scheme…
Pressure over carbon pricing and emission trading schemes is building globally and locally. AAP

Coalition plays chicken with first non‑core promise

Australian climate change inaction is often excused with “unless China and the US do something, why should we?”. But, with China’s recent introduction of a cap-and-trade system and Barack Obama’s move…
We’re talking, yet again, about how lovely it is up north. Flickr/skittledog

Romancing the north: the food bowl furphy

The romantic idea of developing northern Australia has once more been thrust into the light, this time by the Coalition’s 2030 Plan for Developing Northern Australia. As I look at coverage of the plan…

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