Spend time in the Murray-Darling Basin and you quickly understand that good water policy is never just policy.
In a continent as dry as ours, water cannot be an abstraction debated in Canberra. Healthy rivers are key to how communities see themselves, and the foundation for thriving industries including agriculture and tourism.
The Murray-Darling Basin is one of the most extraordinary river systems in the world. Spanning more than one million square kilometres - close to one eighth of Australia's land mass - it has 77,000km of waterways. It produces more than $30 billion of agriculture produce every year, about 40% of the nation's production. More than 50 First Nations have cared for the Basin for thousands of years and 2.4 million people live there now.
Nearly 14 years ago against the backdrop of the Millennium Drought, Australia made a difficult decision. To reform. The Murray-Darling Basin Plan was implemented to place limits on water use and created a framework to return water to the environment while continuing to support communities and agriculture.
It was heavily contested, reform of this type always is. When trade-offs are real, tensions are unavoidable and tensions remain.
But one of the lessons I have learned in this role is that you cannot rush through tension. The instinct in public policy is often to smooth things over quickly, but the best outcomes rarely come from speed. The right outcomes can only come from staying with discomfort long enough to genuinely grapple with competing priorities.
Holding tension is hard, but necessary.
The Basin Plan has contributed to improving river health. Over the past decade, more than 2,100 gigalitres of water have been recovered to support environmental outcomes and bring consumptive use within sustainable limits. This has helped arrest and in some cases reverse long-term environmental decline in places such as the Narran Lakes, the Macquarie Marshes, and the Barmah-Millewa Forest. While challenges remain in some parts of the system, environmental water has also helped maintain connectivity along the River Murray during dry periods.
At the same time, there have been difficult adjustments for some Basin communities. Water recovery has been hard, and the shape of some agricultural communities has changed significantly. Smaller communities in particular have been impacted. In response farmers and communities have innovated and improved productivity. Improvements in water-use efficiency have been particularly notable in the cotton industry, where Australian growers are among the most water-efficient in the world.
These outcomes achieved show us that environmental and economic benefits are not mutually exclusive and in fact depend on each other. With the right settings, both can be supported.
And that is the opportunity now before us.
For the first time since its implementation, the Basin Plan is undergoing a full statutory review. This is a moment to reflect honestly on what has worked, what has not, and how we must adapt to meet the challenges ahead. 2026 is not 2012.
We now have a maturing environmental water portfolio, improved scientific knowledge and compliance frameworks, and stronger recognition that we must do better to involve First Nations people in water management. The task for the next decade is to integrate these elements more effectively, supporting a thriving agricultural sector and the needs of communities while also protecting the environment.
When I stepped into this role three and a half years ago, there were communities that did not want us in the room. Trust had been eroded. It was a difficult reality.
And you cannot implement something as complex and consequential as the Basin Plan without trust.
Since then, the Murray-Darling Basin Authority has expanded its footprint in the Basin, and we now have 6 offices outside of Canberra. We have focused on building relationships with communities and listening to better understand what is needed for the future. And we have turned up: again and again.
People are unlikely to agree with every decision we make. Good policy is unlikely to mean you are always popular. But people do have to know they have been heard, that we are being honest about trade-offs and will do what we say we will. Building trust is about turning up, listening and holding tension.
This is especially important during the current review. It's why we are out across the Basin, speaking with landholders, First Nations people, community organisations, conservationists, irrigators, industries and local governments across a 12-week consultation period. The Basin Plan may be national law, but its success can only be achieved locally. Lived experience matters. Community insight matters.
Our Discussion Paper sets out some options. They are starting points for discussion, not predetermined decisions. And we expect robust debate. Competing viewpoints are not a weakness of the Basin reform process; they are its strength. Hearing those perspectives is integral to refining the Plan. And, after spending much of my life working in rural and regional Australia, I know that there is more that unites us than divides us.
The Basin Plan was born out of crisis. Its next chapter must be shaped by foresight. If we are honest about the challenges ahead - climate variability, competing demands, community expectations - we can build a Plan that is stronger and more adaptive and that is fit for the future.
Now is the time to engage with the evidence, contribute constructively to the debate, and shape what comes next.
It is not just about water allocations or legislative frameworks.
It is about ensuring that the Basin's rivers, and its communities, endure for generations to come.
