46
Pressure may also be brought to bear on government through serious, investigative journalism. In the UK, for example, the voting records of parliamentarians on
important climate issues have linked voting patterns to affiliations with particular
industries and the receipt of benefits (The Guardian 2019, pp. 18–21). Journalism of
this kind may help catalyse change, particularly if it invigorates newly interested
actors and provides protest movements with greater justification for their actions.
Oddly, two seemingly polar opposite approaches (engaging with those who
reject government and simultaneously militating for a greater governmental role)
may need to operate in tandem if better water outcomes are to be achieved in relation to theft, buy-backs and fish kills.
6.6 Science-Led Law and Governance
Finally, there also needs to be a more honest approach to science-led law and governance. To say, for example, that the SDL and ESLT were arrived at through
science- led research is simply untrue (Walker 2019, p. 243). Science-led research
should have been relied upon to comply with the WA. However, this is not to suggest
that the best available science would have resulted in a flawless or objective
MDBP. Scientific research is mediated in a political field. It may, and often is, subjective—it is not without values (Don Brown chapter one in this book) but that is not
an argument for ignoring or expunging it. It simply means that subjectivity needs to
be acknowledged in the hard sciences in the same way as it is conventionally
acknowledged in the humanities and social sciences. Water theft, buy-backs and fish
kills will be better governed if it is.
References
ABC Four Corners (2017) Pumped: Who’s Benefitting from the Billions Spent on the MurrayDarling? https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/pumped/8727826. Accessed 15 Oct 2019
Aither DEWLP (2019) Water Supply and Demand in the Southern Murray Darling Basin Report.
https://waterregister.vic.gov.au/images/documents/Water-Supply-and-Demand-Report_
Aither_FINAL.pdf. Accessed 11 Nov 2019
Australian Academy of Science (AAS) (Moritz Report) (2019) Investigation of the Causes of Mass
Fish Kills in the Menindee Region NSW over the Summer of 2018–2019. pp 23, 36. https://
www.science.org.au/files/userfiles/support/reports-and-plans/2019/academy-science-reportmass-fish-kills-digital.pdf. Accessed 19 Aug 2019
Australian Academy of Science (ASS) (Moritz Report), Investigation of the Causes of Mass Fish
Kills in the Menindee Region NSW over the Summer of 2018–2019, 18 February, 2019, p 2,
Pt 4 p 17. Accessed 19 Aug 2019
Bloomberg (2019) Eastern Australia Agriculture Pty Ltd. https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/
company/0367577D:AU. Accessed 3 Oct 2019
Bosselmann K (2008) The principle of sustainability. Ashgate, Farnham
Braithwaite J, Drahos P (2000) Global business regulation. CUP, Cambridge
J. Gray
Pressure may also be brought to bear on government through serious, investigative journalism. In the UK, for example, the voting records of parliamentarians on
important climate issues have linked voting patterns to affiliations with particular
industries and the receipt of benefits (The Guardian 2019, pp. 18–21). Journalism of
this kind may help catalyse change, particularly if it invigorates newly interested
actors and provides protest movements with greater justification for their actions.
Oddly, two seemingly polar opposite approaches (engaging with those who
reject government and simultaneously militating for a greater governmental role)
may need to operate in tandem if better water outcomes are to be achieved in relation to theft, buy-backs and fish kills.
6.6 Science-Led Law and Governance
Finally, there also needs to be a more honest approach to science-led law and governance. To say, for example, that the SDL and ESLT were arrived at through
science- led research is simply untrue (Walker 2019, p. 243). Science-led research
should have been relied upon to comply with the WA. However, this is not to suggest
that the best available science would have resulted in a flawless or objective
MDBP. Scientific research is mediated in a political field. It may, and often is, subjective—it is not without values (Don Brown chapter one in this book) but that is not
an argument for ignoring or expunging it. It simply means that subjectivity needs to
be acknowledged in the hard sciences in the same way as it is conventionally
acknowledged in the humanities and social sciences. Water theft, buy-backs and fish
kills will be better governed if it is.
References
ABC Four Corners (2017) Pumped: Who’s Benefitting from the Billions Spent on the MurrayDarling? https://www.abc.net.au/4corners/pumped/8727826. Accessed 15 Oct 2019
Aither DEWLP (2019) Water Supply and Demand in the Southern Murray Darling Basin Report.
https://waterregister.vic.gov.au/images/documents/Water-Supply-and-Demand-Report_
Aither_FINAL.pdf. Accessed 11 Nov 2019
Australian Academy of Science (AAS) (Moritz Report) (2019) Investigation of the Causes of Mass
Fish Kills in the Menindee Region NSW over the Summer of 2018–2019. pp 23, 36. https://
www.science.org.au/files/userfiles/support/reports-and-plans/2019/academy-science-reportmass-fish-kills-digital.pdf. Accessed 19 Aug 2019
Australian Academy of Science (ASS) (Moritz Report), Investigation of the Causes of Mass Fish
Kills in the Menindee Region NSW over the Summer of 2018–2019, 18 February, 2019, p 2,
Pt 4 p 17. Accessed 19 Aug 2019
Bloomberg (2019) Eastern Australia Agriculture Pty Ltd. https://www.bloomberg.com/profile/
company/0367577D:AU. Accessed 3 Oct 2019
Bosselmann K (2008) The principle of sustainability. Ashgate, Farnham
Braithwaite J, Drahos P (2000) Global business regulation. CUP, Cambridge
J. Gray