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ARTICLE · 21 FEBRUARY 2018

Wild law and the Murray Darling Basin: a creative solution to a wicked problem

Corrs Chambers Westgarth
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Like in NZ, perhaps natural resources, such as rivers and mountains, should be granted standing to sue for their own protection.

AustraliaEnvironment
Christine Covington
Christine Covington
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The environmental health of the Murray Darling Basin has been at risk for decades. It's time to explore a creative legal solution for improving it.

Following the 2017 report on the ABC's Four Corners which suggested that billions of litres of water earmarked for the environment have been diverted for cotton irrigation in NSW, the Murray-Darling Basin has again been plastered across the headlines.

Although the Commonwealth Government has taken a role in promoting and leading Basin-wide management through the Water Act 2007 and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan, regulation of the Murray-Darling is still highly complex due to its cross-jurisdictional reach.

With no real solution in sight, several reviews and investigations underway and some States looking to distance themselves from the current arrangements, the time has come to explore more creative solutions to an increasingly wicked problem...

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