Natural resource management: Steering not rowing against the current in the Murray-Darling Basin

At the centre of the long history of policy development in the MurrayDarling Basin is a complex debate about the role of governments. During recent decades there has been a pull back from the highly interventionist role that all Australian governments – state and Commonwealth – played in the economy and society during the first 150 years of European settlement. Indeed, during the past 20 or so years thinking worldwide about the delivery of government services has shifted. The resulting transformations have involved many variations, but common is increasing emphasis on market-orientated arrangements such as purchaser–provider contracts with payments tightly linked to milestones and targets. I