Let me just get this straight, the Minister for Water, a Senator from SA, appoints a senior bureaucrat from SA to head up the so-called 'independent' body to oversee the re-allocation of Murray-Darling water resources. This just gets sleazier and sleazier by the day. And the metrocentric governments of the the other MDB states can't even see the actual and potential for serious conflict of interest.

Any variation from a directly proportionate reduction in Adelaide's extractions from the system, along with all the other users, is nothing short of fraud. Every other state capital bar Hobart is investing in desalination but these parasites in Adelaide just put their ugly great mit out for another handout at everyone else's expense.

The lack of action on 'saving' the lower lakes speaks volumes of Freeman's credentials.

Short of a flood of biblical proportions, the lower lakes need a real solution not the current bleating.

Freeman is in charge of this inaction and lack of understanding of the factors behind water flow over the SA border.

Actually Ian Mott, SA only uses about 6pc of the water out of the Murray Darling basin.

Guess who takes the rest ? It isn't hard to see where most of the storage dams are.

Take 10pc off everyone and buy out Cubby Station.

And let the river run at the bottom of the basin - that's just as important as at the top, Ian Mott.

Just when there seemed to be evolving a spirit of collaboration we are reminded by Ian Mott that self interest and resentment are still alive in some quarters.

Hopefully Freeman, who came to SA from Qld, can get on with the the big job and not be too distracted by the few tiny minds responsible for the disproportionate noise.

Irrespective of Mr Freeman's skills and experience in water resource management, he will face the continuing short term problem that any fraction of virtually zero is a figure even closer to zero. The Federal Government must act NOW to release the oft-quoted 1500 gig, which can be sourced form public and private reserves.

You have the Right idea Robyn! I've mentioned before that Cubbie Station ought to release water. With all the money being thrown around, how about the Government buy it, reduce the storage capacity, and give the MDB back it's water!!

In the course of the recent ABC Radio National interview with Keith De Lacy (Chairman of the Cubbie Group) and Ian Douglas of Fair Water Use, 28th June 2008, Mr De Lacy informed listeners that his group was responsible for the extraction of less than 0.2 % of flows from the system. This apparently paltry amount does not sit too well with the well-known fact that Cubbie’s combined water storages have a capacity in excess of 500 gigalitres: more than one third of that required to revive the Murray-Darling system.

Fair Water Use is privy to information which questions whether Mr De Lacy’s comments are in fact an accurate assessment of the impact of the Cubbie Group, inasmuch as the 0.2% figure may only factor-in water that is extracted directly from the river system itself. We are informed that the vast majority of the water they impound has been prevented from entering the system by massive earthworks that they have undertaken, and continue to develop, on the flood plains, now acting as a tourniquet on flows into the headwaters of the Darling.

If this is indeed the case, it is totally inappropriate for Mr De Lacy and his board to state that Cubbie has an “almost negligible” impact on the Murray-Darling system and to continue their arrogant rejection of the increasing body of opinion which condemns their untenable exploitation of the nation’s water resources, virtually donated to the group less than a decade ago.