rojo,
Richie is right. For infrastructure to be valuable FIRST you need enough water to service those who want it i.e. demand exceeds supply. Answer: reduce demand THEN deliver the rest more efficiently (infrastructure).

If you have a requirement (for example) for 1 trillion mega litres but supply is 1 million no matter how efficiently you distribute it isn't enough. There will be irrigators who will go broke, starve, suicide etc. Therefore buying their water allocation gives the small farmer a chance to relocate or diversify ( hydroponics?). The other alternative is great infrastructure and no one to ustilize it.

Like it or not some properties aren't viable in today's circumstances, for a number of reasons.

What isn't addressed because of (misplaced) slavish adherance to Capitalist dogma national planning is negated or avoided.
By that I mean we as a country need to nationally plan what industries(incl.) crops we need to regard as essential for the nation and fund or nurture accordingly. I wonder if it isn't national suicide to allow the global Corporate Capitalism to dictate to nations (us) what suits them to grow. Keep in mind CC has it's own agenda which is counter to national interests. The truth is a level playing field never and never will exist.

One thing is clear with 6.5 Billion and increasing who need feeding, we need to be growing more food. It makes no sense for us to not be able to feed our selves at the cost of 'market manipulation' for consumer products.

Recent events prove in my mind we need to trade on a world basis but be self sufficient in all areas...including primary production. I am not neither extreme but the answer is controlled or directed capitalism.

examinator, no arguments, no water no savings. We can either but back entitlements now with no water, and put nothing back into the river, but decimate rural communities that are currently being held together with the belief that things are going to turn around. Or we can get prepared for that turn around by getting things in place to save water. In this scenario jobs are retained, if not created, in rural areas with supplies etc coming from our rural/urban businesses.

It's not rocket science, we can let most of the water run down the river and use the rest with the system as it is. Less jobs, less production and still have irrigation water losses from leaky channels and the like.
With the govt looking to breathe life into the economy my thoughts would be spending the money on jobs, and future production, rather than buying water assets that are no longer assets, but a net cost to taxpayers.

*Rudd wants to open us up to another 3 million people*

Then Rudd should be opening ag schools and getting his buddies at elders Landmark etc to teach these people farming along with the Minister of imagration and State Ministers.

Pluss bringing in the skilled labour to reopen plants and export.

As far as A Minister for water Australia needs an Aussie three time generation.

Even the old Nationals wouldnt get it this wrong.
Jenny Wrong has got it wong.

BTW has anybody heard the rumour the UK company buying the water has connections with China?

I wonder if Jenny has any inside information. Then again I suppose not considering she said she had no idea the company buying the water were from the UK.

Hard to beleve they wouldhave Australias best interests first isnt it.
Funny that would have thought the Minister of Water might have made it her business to know 'whom' was purchasing our water.

Wow pretty good Country this place they call Australia- You can buy the soul of the country and nobody bothers to turn up at any meetings from this new Australian Government.

Oh thats of course if you not an Aussie farmer or a Australian living in the bush.

Oh well who knows perhaps Jenny will arrange for us the buy our drinking water down the track from China or UK.

Like our milk! Gee I hope they dont try recyle it first.

Where`s Kenny when you need him. Heard he was in China the off to the ME.

Maybe there is more in this Kenny world of Loos than meets the eye.

Could he be really working for the Minister of Water.
As they say SH happens!

http://qcl.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/agribusiness-and-general/political/wong-abandons-towns-in-water-buyback/1339072.aspx?src=enews