A $13 billion, 30-year flop: landmark study reveals stark failure to halt Murray-Darling River decline

By Jamie Pittock, Professor, Fenner School of Environment & Society, Australian National University

Some A$13 billion in taxpayer dollars and 30 years of policy reform have failed to arrest the devastating decline in the health of Australia’s most important river system, the Murray-Darling Basin, new research shows.

The four-year study released today involved 12 scientists from Australia’s leading universities, and draws on data from 1980 to 2023. It is the most comprehensive report card to date on government policies to protect the Murray-Darling.

We found expensive and contentious reforms,…

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