Water policy for resilient agri-environmental landscapes: Lessons from the Australian experience

Abstract

Past mistakes had high economic, social and ecological costs (Hillman, 2008; Musgrave, 2008; Tisdell, Ward & Grudzinski, 2002; Ward, 2009). The further development of Australia's water resources must therefore be wary of fanciful visions that imagine a future of certainty and stability. The comprehensive reform of water policy and governance embedded in Australia's Intergovernmental Agreement on a National Water Initiative (Council of Australian Governments, 2004) was a significant break from the past, but its implementation remains both incomplete and vulnerable to political opportunism. A recent Australian Government policy paper (Australian Government, 2015a) on the development of northern Australia reprises a nation-building rhetoric that envisages another round of water development, but risks giving insufficient attention to the complexity of the region's natural, social and economic systems, and the continuing likelihood of surprise.