Who do these croweaters think they are! Why should the rest of the states have to bail them out? Let them build a desalination plant and be done with it!

Are they the same productive and profitable uses that have been talked of for many years and that now see the over supply of grapes and the sales of un profitable managed investment schemes.

Perhaps it should stay with dairy farmers so they can lose even more money?

tigerdicky and panky need to pull their heads out of their collectives and make an effort to understand that restriction of trade for any good or commodity is illegal and should rightly be challenged if it is seen to be occuring. If they look at it closely they will see that it is not the seller of the water bailing out the buyer but exactly the opposite. Money is trasnferred elsewhere in the system to someone who quite likely cannot make a productive living from the water they own, and they by definintion are being bailed out by those growers/producers who can make a living from their use of this precious resource.

Samj, Let them drink wine!

Grizzling and squabbling over the available water is the wrong approach. It's just plain dumb. The south east of Australia is where the majority of the population lives. Put MORE fresh water into all the systems so there is enough for everyone to do whatever they want. Sure it's a big enterprise but it can be done. We can turn this whole continent into a garden. It is possible for us to make this place better than it has ever been. We need Australians with vision, foresight, guts and determination to carry this out, not grandstanding jetsetting politicians whose only aim seems to be to sell the country out from under us and apply ad hoc band aid solutions. We cannot reasonably continue as we are and expect to maintain and improve our standard of living with an increasing population. We must think big and out of the square. Some suggestions: dam headwaters of NSW northern rivers and turn them back through the great divide, pipe waters of Ord river to Murray Darling, pipe far N Qld rivers to southern areas. Create an 'Amazon" river and rainforest in WA desert. Now THAT would absorb carbon. Moist air traveling east as rain would water the whole of the interior.

While some of the suggestions made by Ozfirst almost smack a little of C.E.C policy, it is also encouraging to see some people "thinking big" as a possible response to our problems.. We do indeed need people with vision such as Playford and other statesmen to help us get through this. Nowadays our pollies cringe and snipe at each other with one eye on the next election. I understand the call for Commonwealth control, but by the same token it is an unconstitutional move (contravening Sect 100) not to mention I doubt that there would be an improvement for the lower states with the current crop of self interested party hacks in power-considering the majority come from the East and will always consider their chances of re election over the national interest. Our nation has so much potential-with leadership that places the needs of Australians and our long term future first.