Dr Ted Christie: Environmental Dispute Resolution and Sustainable Solutions

TAGS: Murray-Darling Basin Plan; best available scientific knowledge; statutory interpretation; peer review; objective criteria; error rate; relevant and reliable scientific evidence; Murray-Darling Basin Authority       There is no legal meaning provided in the Federal Water Act for the term “best available scientific knowledge”.      The outcome has been to ignite an information conflict between the MDB Royal Commission and the MDB Authority.       How should this conflict be best addressed? READ MORE …

    The release of the Report of the Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission ignited significant controversy over the Basin Plan prepared by the MDB Authority.     The following key findings of the Royal Commission raise issues that may make decision-making by Government problematic for implementing the Commission’s recommendations: 1. Best available scientific knowledge; 2. Climate change and the precautionary principle; 3. Effective public participation and community consultation;  4. The triple bottom line: ecologically sustainable development; and 5. Mathematical modelling. These issues will be reviewed in a series of short articles that will be posted on this site along a pathway of conflict management and resolution. READ MORE ...