Member for Murray Helen Dalton says a royal commission into water management is a must

In Short

Systemic Failure: Current water management is criticised for a decade of disputed science, broken accounting, and decisions made behind closed doors.

Economic Impact: Lack of transparency has led to hollowed-out regional economies, lost jobs, and the destruction of family businesses.

The Solution: Dalton says Federal Royal Commission is required to compel evidence and provide the "sunlight" necessary to fix national food security and environmental health.

"Australia needs a Federal Royal Commission into Australian water management," said Member for Murray Helen Dalton MP.

"After more than a decade of damage, secrecy, and failed assurances, the current system has lost the trust of the people it governs.

Decisions about our rivers and water resources have been made behind closed doors, based on disputed science, broken accounting, and shifting political priorities.

This is a systemic failure.

Communities across the country have been stripped of water, jobs, and opportunity, yet no one has ever been properly held to account.

Water has been taken, economies hollowed out, and family businesses pushed to the brink — all without a full, independent examination of how or why these decisions were made.

What on earth are Australians supposed to trust?

The same agencies that design water policy are allowed to assess their own performance.

That is not accountability.

When livelihoods are destroyed and food production reduced, Australians deserve more than internal reviews

and political talking points.

A Federal Royal Commission has the power to compel evidence, examine decisions across jurisdictions, and expose how Australia’s water system has been run.

Without it, the truth will remain buried.

If we are serious about the environment, regional communities, and national food security, then sunlight is essential.

Our water should never be managed in secrecy. It is too important to be protected by silence.

I will continue to push for a Federal Royal Commission into Australian water until Australians get honest answers about what has happened and who paid the price.

We can fix this system — but only if we are prepared to confront the truth.

Avoiding scrutiny is no longer acceptable.

Australians deserve answers.

And I will not stop until they get them."