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Commonwealth act
This Act has been repealed and is no longer in force. It is retained for historical reference.
What this law does (mechanics)
Ratifies and gives legal effect to a multi‑party agreement about rivers and storages on the River Murray and Lake Victoria (the Agreement is in the Schedule) (s.5; Agreement cl. I.1). The Act binds the Crown (s.2) and comes into force on proclamation (s.3).
Creates a River Murray Commission to run the shared program: appointment, terms, quorum and powers are set out in the Agreement (Agreement cl.4–11). The Commission can make regulations about its procedure, contracts, formal business and tolls, and may prescribe penalties up to £50 (s.7). Commission regulations have the force of law (s.8), and Commission records and decisions are admissible evidence (ss.9,13,19). The High Court can compel the Commission to perform its statutory duties (s.11), and the Commission’s orders bind governments, persons and corporations and may be made rules of the High Court (s.12).
Authorises construction, maintenance and operation of specified works: storages (Upper Murray, Lake Victoria), weirs, locks and regulators, and associated dredging/snagging (Agreement cl.20–26). Each Contracting Government is responsible for constructing and maintaining works assigned to it (Agreement cl.21,25). The Commission approves general schemes, designs and estimates before construction (Agreement cl.23) and can direct the order, rate of progress and methods of construction and maintenance (Agreement cl.28).
Fixes finance and cost‑sharing. Estimated total costs and an agreed apportionment between the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia are specified (Agreement cl.32–33). The Commission prepares annual estimates and the Contracting Governments must pay their shares to the Commission (Agreement cl.34–35). The Act limits Commonwealth exposure to no more than £1,000,000 for construction costs (s.5).
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Direct links to the current provisions in River Murray Waters Act 1915.
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View on official registerSourced from the Federal Register of Legislation (legislation.gov.au), CC BY 4.0.
Provides for navigation tolls limited to lock‑keeping and maintenance, with statutory maximums expressed per ton per distance (ss.15–17). Tolls collected are paid to the Commission and credited to the Governments in the agreed proportions (Agreement cl.42).
Sets out water‑sharing rules (chiefly in the Agreement): how flow at Albury is shared, rights over tributaries, a formula for apportioning contributions to South Australia, minimum monthly supplies to be provided to South Australia, surplus rules, and drought variation powers for the Commission (Agreement cl.44–51).
Includes practical powers for implementation: Commission may enter land (s.10); works and lands used for works are exempt from rates/taxes (s.20); Contracting Governments must furnish statements of diversions and other information to the Commission (Agreement cl.52–53,59); arbitration for certain disputes is provided (Agreement cl.58).
Official rationale (claim in the text)
Testing that rationale against costs, incentives and trade‑offs (source‑grounded)
Who pays: The Contracting Governments share upfront construction and ongoing costs in fixed proportions (Commonwealth £1,000,000; New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia each £1,221,000 as estimated) (Agreement cl.32–33). Annual contributions are to be provided to the Commission in those proportions (Agreement cl.34–35). The Act requires parliamentary appropriation for moneys needed (s.18). The Commonwealth’s statutory cap on liability is explicit (s.5).
Financial risks and contingencies: The Commission can approve and advance funds and may authorise expenditure in excess of the estimates; excess costs are borne by the Governments in the agreed proportions (Agreement cl.36). If a Government refuses or neglects to perform or pay, the other Governments (with Commission sanction) may complete works and recover the defaulting State’s share as a debt in court with interest (Agreement cl.43). Administrative expenses of the Commission are shared equally, while Commissioner salaries are paid by the appointing government (Agreement cl.38; cl.8).
Incentives and behaviour: The Commission controls approval of designs, order of construction, maintenance standards and water delivery declarations (Agreement cl.23,28,19). That central direction creates incentives for State governments to obtain Commission approval and to progress works in Commission‑approved ways to secure funding advances (Agreement cl.34–35, cl.28). Where a State’s interests diverge from two others, the Agreement restricts what the Commission may treat as ‘formal’ business (Agreement cl.6), and unresolved differences among Commissioners may be referred to arbitration (Agreement cl.58).
Compliance burden: States must submit schemes, designs and annual estimates for approval (Agreement cl.23,34); provide statements of existing diversions shortly after Commission appointment (Agreement cl.53); and supply information requested by the Commission (Agreement cl.59). Persons operating locks must pay tolls set by Commission regulation and tolls are strictly limited by purpose and amount (ss.15–17,16; Agreement cl.42).
Bureaucratic discretion and enforcement: The Commission has broad discretionary powers to set operational rules, regulate tolls, give directions on construction and to vary water allocations during drought (s.7; ss.8,12; Agreement cl.28,51). Regulations made by the Commission are legally binding (s.8) and are subject to publication and parliamentary disallowance procedures when they concern tolls or penalties (s.7(2)–(3)). The High Court can enforce Commission duties (s.11), and arbitrator decisions are binding where the Agreement prescribes arbitration (Agreement cl.58).
Opportunity costs and trade‑offs: Money directed to construction and maintenance must be appropriated by Parliament (s.18) and balances held by the Commission carry over year to year (Agreement cl.39). The Act exempts the works from rates and taxes (s.20), which removes local revenue streams that might otherwise fund maintenance. The drought clause allows the Commission to proportion reductions among States but does not remove the need to maintain the specified infrastructure or repay advances (Agreement cl.51). The Lake Victoria and Upper Murray storages are a gating condition for certain water‑sharing clauses — allocation rules don’t fully operate until those storages are effective or seven years elapse (Agreement cl.44).
Concentrated benefits/diffuse costs: The Agreement identifies particular infrastructure (weirs, locks, Lake Victoria, Upper Murray storage) that will directly benefit navigation and regulated water supply (Agreement cl.20, Schedule A). Costs are shared by four Governments in fixed proportions (Agreement cl.32). The Act limits the Commonwealth’s maximum cash liability (s.5), concentrating residual financial exposure on the States according to the agreed shares if costs exceed estimates (Agreement cl.36).
Key implementation and legal features to watch (source citations)
Bottom line (mechanical effect): The Act creates a statutory mechanism — a multi‑member Commission with rule‑making, approval, funding allocation and enforcement powers — to build, maintain and operate navigation and storage works on the River Murray and Lake Victoria, to allocate construction costs among the Commonwealth and three States in specified proportions, to set limited navigation tolls, and to implement a detailed water‑sharing regime that becomes operative on completion of key storages (s.5; Agreement cl.4,20,28,32,42,44–51).