Price tag for water buybacks rises by $5bn

An independent report has suggested the federal government will need billions in
extra dollars to fund its commitment to restoring the Murray-Darling Basin.
Some $3.1 billion over 10 years has been pledged to restore the basin's rivers
through water buybacks, but the report suggests the government is burning through
the money.
"If the current performance rate is maintained ... the current budget would be
insufficient to achieve even the smallest of the recovery targets," the report by
water broker Waterfind reads.
Prime Minister Julia Gillard promised during this year's federal election that the
government would pay for all the water needed to revive the basin's rivers.
If the government sticks to its 3000 gigalitre target, then that will be worth an
additional $1.6 billion, the report suggests.
The promise will be worth an extra $5 billion if the government wants to return
4000GL to the river system.
The federal coalition seized on the report as another reason the government should
explain its costings as well as its legal advice.
Mike Taylor's unexpected resignation as basin authority boss last week has cast
renewed doubt over the legalities of any potential government reform.
"(The government) are either hiding things from the public or they don't know the
answers," opposition water spokesman Barnaby Joyce said in a statement on Monday.
"They seem to be stumbling along and making it up as they go along and the minister
doesn't seem to even understand his own act."
He criticised the government's $3.1 billion allocation as too small.
"At that rate, it will take until 2030 before all of the water is bought back."