The Chariot Wheels of the Commonwealth

Abstract

This thesis examines the role of inter-judisdictional institutions in the Murray-Darling Basin and discusses the potential impact of the National Water Initiative approved by the Council of Australian Governments in June 2004. Over the last century there have been two periods during which decision makers attempted to craft or re-craft interjurisdictional water management arrangements to suit the priorities of their times. This thesis suggests that the early twenty-first century shuold be another, Central is the argument that despite attempts to introduce a form of coordinated basin-wide management in the early twentieth century and in the 1980s, the record since then has been dominated by efforts to maximise state autonomy at significant and growing environmental cost to the region as a whole. The issues involved will be examined in the context of the Australian federal system and a discussion about the nature of the changes needed to implement more environmentally sustainable management. ...