Australia’s ‘water cop’ has revealed the weakness of the water compliance regime. 

Inspector-General of Water Compliance, Troy Grant, has criticised the legislation on illegal water trading, comparing it to a Monopoly board with numerous “get-out-of-jail free” clauses.

During a senate estimates hearing, Grant expressed his frustration, stating that his investigations team had 21 ongoing investigations related to illegal practices. 

He said that since the last estimates hearing in February, the team had closed 62 investigations due to the inadequacy of the legislation. 

He says he is eagerly awaiting an independent review to address the issues he raised.

Grant revealed that at the previous Murray-Darling Basin Ministerial Council meeting, he was asked to prepare a paper on accountability within the legislation. 

He said that the Basin plan legislation and Water Acts contained too many loopholes, rendering them unenforceable, and questioned the motivation for complying with the law when there were no consequences for non-compliance.

Appointed as the inaugural inspector-general in 2020, Grant reiterated the need for a review of the legislation and expressed his intention to inform policymakers and legislators accordingly. 

He criticised the legislation's ineffectiveness, stating that it was unlikely for anyone to be caught for wrongdoing under its provisions.

“You’d have to be a moron to get caught doing anything wrong under that legislation,” Grant commented.