Madness on the Murray

On 27 October the Australian Food and Grocery Council released a report showing a foreign trade deficit of $1.8 billion in foodstuff for 2009-10. For the first time Australia has become a net importer of fresh and processed foods. Coming amidst the current public debate over plans to cut water allocations for irrigation in the Murray Darling Basin (MDB) by about a third or more, the government’s approach to resource management has begun to assume an aura of the surreal.