Water policy is driving up national debt, Speak Up says

Jun 12, 2025

The current position on water policy in Australia is restricting the nation’s growth and contributing to a mounting national debt, according to the Speak Up campaign.

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As the national debt liability heads towards one trillion dollars, it is time to focus on generating productivity and reducing unnecessary spending that is exacerbating the debt, Speak Up says.

Speak Up deputy chair David Farley said it was time for Australians to accept that flawed water policy was not only coming at a multi-billion dollar direct cost which is increasing the national debt, but is also reducing farm productivity and therefore increasing our reliance on food imports.

“The cost of the current water policy direction needs to be made clear to all Australians,” Mr Farley said.

“By removing water from food production, which is the government’s policy, in the future we will grow less and therefore rely on other countries to fill our supermarket shelves.

“Quite clearly, this is an unsustainable and nonsensical situation, but it is unlikely to change unless citizens across the country become better informed and demand a new and realistic approach to domestic food production.”

Mr Farley said $13 billion was being spent on the flawed Murray-Darling Basin Plan, with its most recent focus being to purchase water from farmers and store it in dams, supposedly for environmental sustainability.

“We have already acquired and stored more water than the environment requires. Despite this, the Federal Government continues to pursue water buybacks with debt at a massive cost to taxpayers,” he said.

“In essence, the government is purchasing productive assets, being water and water storage space, which were once used to create employment, exports and taxation revenue.

“So, we’ve turned these assets into a lower economic investment, for which future generations will pay dearly.

“The basin plan was a knee-jerk reaction to the millennium drought of the early 21st century.”

Mr Farley said the 2026 Basin Plan Review was an ideal opportunity to reassess the plan’s achievements, performance and future direction for both the environment and Australia’s food security and food affordability.

“As Australians, we all want to achieve environmental sustainability,” he said.

“With smarter policy this can be achieved, and we can also improve the use of water as a productive and security asset, thereby having a positive influence on the Australian balance sheet.”