Whilst public and media attention has been focused on who owns Australian farmland, an emerging issue is who owns the water in our storages.
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The investment raid on water assets was first made by John Elliott years ago and he soon became the largest private owner of water in Australia.
He acquired so much water that it could not be utilised, so he dug dams and grew yabbies, as well as growing rice in Victoria.
A property he bought at the junction of the Murray and Goulburn rivers, was subsequently bought by a government body, stripped of 7000 megalitres and resold.
Yes, of course the water was tagged for the environment.
Now corporate carpet baggers have moved into the water market with the sole commercial purpose of giving a return to investors. If farmers do not require the water it is sold to the environment.
The Murray Darling Basin has now become one of the world’s largest water markets, with one fund manager claiming to have around $175 million in water assets under management.
Now irrigation farmers find they are in competition with an open-ended funded government, superannuation funds and private investors who do not own a hectare of land attached to the water usage.
Increase
The consumption of eggs has gone through the roof in Australia over the past year.
The Australian Egg Corporation Limited has said this represented a national spend of $83.8 million – $6.3 million more than December 2015.
It says that egg sales were up significantly in 2016 compared to 2015 across all categories.
Cage egg sales were up 4.4 per cent, barn was up 1.3 per cent and free range up 12.7 per cent.
No reason was given for the increase but no doubt the price of meat could be a major factor.
Eggs are a wonderful source of protein, however, those who have fallen under the spell of no added hormones or HGPs should take great care, as eggs contain 90 times more estrogen than a small serve of meat but only 45 times more than meat derived from HGP treated cattle.
To this end, we need clarification from the Down Down mob as maybe its marketing could be shot to ribbons.
Sugar tax
Food for thought. There has been wide editorial coverage on the pros and cons of introducing a sugar tax.
We have a hefty fuel tax and it has not put cars off the road.
We have a crippling tax on tobacco and millions of people continue to smoke cigarettes.
Alcohol is taxed heavily and people drink.
The punter bets and plays pokies knowing winning is a fleeting moment.
Yes, excess sugar harms health.
Tax it and pay more. Who cares.