FOUR months ago Independent Queensland Senator Glenn Lazarus said "water is a massive issue in this country and we need to sort it out".
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Ironically, he was speaking at a media conference of crossbench Senators who threw their weight behind Barnaby Joyce getting charge of water in the new Turnbull Government.
They were led by John Madigan, an Independent Senator from Victoria, who also said water is a national issue.
One of the senators' issues was the Murray Darling Basin Plan which has come under intense fire in the past fortnight. In last week's column a Riverina farmers' advocate referred to crippling water legislation; the same day as broadcaster Alan Jones gave an interview to The Daily Advertiser in which he slammed the plan as "ideological rubbish".
It was also the same day as another crossbench Senator, David Leyonhjelm, said during a Senate inquiry into the plan, that it was a "messy negotiation", based on politics not science. He was extremely critical of a comment by the new MDBP chairman, Phillip Glyde, that on a recent tour of the basin Glyde could not find anyone against the premise of the plan; Leyonhjelm suggested the chairman was putting a gloss on the situation.
Just when the talk is about food bowls in Australia – and the Riverina and the MD basin is in a prime position to be a substantial part of fresh food exports to Asia and elsewhere - little appears to be happening at government level to ensure farmers and communities are guaranteed the prime commodity, water.
Certainly Mr Joyce hasn't offered any enlightenment or inspiration, nor has the PM got the big stick out, yet. Back in October, the senators argued for a pause in the plan's roll-out until the results of the current Senate select committee inquiry into its impacts on farmers and rural communities were tabled in Parliament.
Senator Madigan said his colleagues were asking for immediate reform of the Water Act (2007) to give equal weighting to social and economic outcomes as well as the environment.
Richard Pratt would be turning over in his grave at the continuing failure of the nation "to deal with water differently". That, unfortunately, doesn't look like changing anytime soon, unless we put visionary people like him into Canberra.
On that score, when will PM Malcolm Turnbull, the great hope for some inspirational leadership in this country, get cracking on such matters without the inference there's no revenue?
There's plenty of scope according to the nation's tax chief, Chris Jordan, who told the Senate estimates committee on Wednesday there were six major companies "gaming the system" to dodge tax obligations and another 60 companies told to get their house in order.
What is going on in Canberra? This week the government's "penny pinchers" rounded on the Wagga weather office, closing it down and putting three people out of work on the same day as it announced privatisation of Medicare.
It's our Medicare and it provides a good service from proficient employees. Privatising anything, from my experience, does not necessarily provide better service or outcomes, but generally fills the already bulging pockets of greedy entrepreneurs.
We really do, as a nation, need to find some better representatives in Canberra. As it stands now, the PM's first half-yearly report reads "must do better".