Former Victorian Farmers Federation Water Council chair Richard Anderson has been appointed to an eight-member federal advisory group on water markets in the Murray-Darling Basin.
Federal Resources and Water minister Keith Pitt said the group would be made up of technical experts, water market users and stakeholder representatives.
Mr Pitt said the group would play a key role in assisting the former Agriculture and Water Resources Department secretary Daryl Quinlivan in his new capacity as the principal adviser.
"Mr Quinlivan's agricultural and water background along with the expertise and real-world experiences of the Advisory Group will provide the important foundations needed to work with Basin states and develop a reform roadmap for improving the structure, governance and operation of water markets in the Basin," Mr Pitt said.
"We have been listening to communities in the Murray-Darling Basin who want practical solutions.
"This is an important step in delivering water markets that operate more effectively and efficiently and don't burden users with unnecessary costs."
He said the government owed it to all Basin communities and water users to get matters right.
"I'm confident that the representatives from throughout the Basin will enable us to deliver pragmatic and sensible reform that benefits everyone, not just a select few.
"The roadmap will inform the government's response to the Australian Competition Consumer Commission's final inquiry report on Murray-Darling Basin water markets released in March 2021."
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With representatives from every Basin state, the Advisory Group was a national reflection of experiences with the individual knowledge necessary to support Mr Quinlivan.
The other members of the Advisory Group on water market reforms are:
. Mrs Jenny McLeod - Coleambally Irrigation Cooperative Limited (CICL) Policy and Communication manager
. Mr Stuart Armitage - former Queensland Farmers Federation President
. Ms Rosalie Auricht - Renmark Irrigation Trust general manager
. Mr Phil Grahame - Ruralco Water general manager
. Dr Andrew Stoeckel - Centre for Regional Economic Development in the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet chief economist
. Mr Dave Appels - Frontier Economics economist
. Dr Peter Hendy - Peter Hendy Consulting chief executive
Principal Adviser Daryl Quinlivan said Basin communities wanted assurance that they had reliable, fit-for-purpose water markets that gave everyone a fair go and that the community could have confidence in.
