Exclusive: New documents raise further questions about deal with company founded by energy minister Angus TaylorThe government rejected several offers from Eastern Australia Agriculture over the past decade to sell its overland-flow water rights because the deals were “not value for money”, before paying $80m for the same rights, new documents show. The water deal was also controversial because overland flows are irregular. Since the deal was done in 2017, the commonwealth has received not one drop of water due to the drought. An analysis of the information by the Australia Institute says the new documents raise additional questions about the $80m purchase price. Four water purchases – all conducted without tender in 2017 – including the $80m EAA deal and another $80m water purchase from Tandou are now under scrutiny from the auditor general.

Source: The Guardian January 19, 2020 19:30 UTC