"Its time to inform the public and bring them into the debate:"

There are probably lots of people well versed in all matters pertaining to water, but I'm afraid I'm not one of them. Further to that, I don't personally know any one who is. I thought that water flowing to households, particularly in large centres, were already privatised. I know people in Ballarat, Bendigo and Melbourne who complain bitterly about the rising costs of water bills. Not so much for the water usage, but the continuous rises in service and waste charges on water supplies that they cannot access because of restrictions.

But really, when we have a Government in power who believes it has a mandate to do what it bloody well pleases, what hope has anyone to sway that same Government who believes in privatisation and growthism as though it were some holy grail? Can we hope that apathetic Australian voters will actually do anything about these issues? Perhaps like me, they don't know enough about these issues to know where to begin.

I agree with most of what is in this article and I agree with the main premise that privatising and water trading won't provide outcomes that benefit the average Australian.

Market forces react to money. The environment doesn't have any money so it has NO say in what happens to the water when market forces are in control. Political forces react to votes. The environment doesn't have any votes so it has NO say in what happens to the water when political forces make the decisions.

We are used to a system where if you want relativley cheap water you can get it anytime and there will be plenty left for the fish and the trees. Market forces are opposed to that scenario. Whoever pays the highest price gets the most water. The fish and the trees won't be paying unless governments pay for them and the fish and the trees don't vote, while the owners of Cubbie Station have friends in high places. It isn't hard to see how Cubbie Station and other big water users get as much water as they want.

That being said it is not a particularly well written article. It jumps around rather than building the case and it offers anecdotes that don't really build the case. The link to "a world in which two thirds of the population will face water shortages by 2025" doesn't actually say that, although there is probably a reference somewhere that does.

Aime makes a good point though, to put a stop to it requires that people become educated about water and that isn't easy. At least Bernard Eddy is doing his best to get the word out.

The bit about the sale of Snowy Hydro was not accurate.
The NSW Govt has the biggest share followed by Victoria and then the Fed's with twelve percent.
Immea could of sold and Rees could still sell Snowy Hydro without any referrence to the other shareholders as NSW is the majority shareholder.
But with an election coming on the people of the State seat of Monaro hammered Steve Whan and the Federal Memeber Gary Nairn over the sale.
Nairn was able to convince John Howard that it was a mistake and that allowed Iemma an easy out.
But Howard haters wouldn't want a simple explanation if there was one that could be embelished to cast Howard in an evil light.
I note that the State Labor leaders Carr,Immea,Bracks and Brumby dont even rate a mention in the spray so that gives me an idea of the bias of the author.

This is as one sided as is possible - and of course in line with the stated activist marketing position of the Australian Water Network.

The AWN's site claims "... will fight for the public control of water. We will do all in our power to ensure waterflows for threatened ecosystems. This new voice in Australia will turn the tide on the water crisis"

Sounds more like activist control of water rather than public control, as the author thinks everyone is an idiot except the blessed activists. Maybe we need the water more than the wetlands for food, ever think of that?

This is another people hating eco green organization, marketing to other eco green groups, clubs, organizations, institutes, networks etc. A quick look around the internet reveals their interest in anti coal mining and being involved in various anti whatever else activism. For the good of Australia, I doubt it, for the good of their egos, definitely.

Yes,Prime Minister,you not only have a water problem.But,never mind,your mates in the "system" will fix everything,until they can't.

We are desperately adding population to try and keep the growth bubble inflated.Meanwhile the natural systems we all depend on to survive are being destroyed.

We are not only selling off public assets,such as water,we are squandering other natural resources like land and minerals to keep a corrupt and unsustainable system going.

Thanks for a good article.It has given me a few more reasons to loathe and despise the Australian hierarchy - political,public service and business.