“Pink batts for farmers” is how one earthmover described the irrigation subsidy program he benefited from. For economist Quentin Grafton it’s been a “national scandal”, using public money to deliver private benefits. Others have called it a failure and a farce – but even those words aren’t strong enough for Richard Beasley, the senior legal counsel assisting the royal commission into the Murray-Darling. “I’d just call it a rort,” he told ABC's Four Corners on Monday night.

The Murray-Darling Basin is in worse health despite the $8.5 billion spent over the past decade. Credit:NICK MOIR

Watching the program it was shocking to see how far we have strayed from what was supposed to be a world-leading plan to rescue our biggest river system from ecological collapse. Introduced by John Howard, the Basin Plan was intended to address “once and for all, the water over-allocation in the Murray-Darling Basin”.

Instead, it’s been captured by vested interests.

The focus has been on making irrigation more efficient in the hope that this will leave more water in the river for native fish, waterbirds and downstream communities.