Comments on: Water regulation reveals our dysfunctional federal farrago

By: JamesK

JamesK — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Who wrote the crap headline?
Nah……only joking I’ve got a fair idea.
The country owes Brumby a debt of hatred…….well perhaps SA more than the rest

By: Tom McLoughlin

Tom McLoughlin — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

This reminds me of an old law subject at ANU called Land Registration to do with reconciling Old System and Torrens title but then double or triple it. Sad to say it was the only subject I got a HD for and a teachers note, that and first year statistics which was a total doddle.

But here's the real point - there were no ecological imperatives in 1890 and the founding fathers could not conceive of a limited Earth anymore than this inter web thingo allowing my self referential musing. If ever we needed common law to 're-interpret' the constitution with some (shock horror) 'judge made law' it would be just about now. Isn't there a serious irrigator's rights High Court of Australia constitutional case coming up soonish?

It's kind of the season - I remember Mabo hit the deck in December 1992. What a ripper that was (my honours topic in 1989 was on native title actually, mediocre score - too radical or just badly written or both).

By: Bernard Keane

Bernard Keane — Thu, 01 Jan 1970 10:00:00 +0000

Well, then there’s Ross Gittins’ point that the environment has no “owner” under our governmental-commercial system and thus no one to aggressively push for its property rights to be protected. A similar point applies to emerging markets like water where interests are diffuse and often contradictory - there’s no peak water buyers’ group to lobby for deregulation and harmonisation.

Damn well reminds me of Admin Law which made me quit the Law part of my degree and stick with all that humanities nonsense, to the eternal detriment of my future earnings.