The Auditor-General has told the department responsible for Murray Darling water buybacks to lift its game

It was the issue that inspired the term “Australia’s Watergate”. A Commonwealth official has now handed down his findings into the $190 million water buyback scheme for the Murray Darling Basin.

• Up to 375GL of water may be going underused each year

Federal public servants tasked with overseeing a $190 million Murray Darling Basin water buyback policy failed to maximise value for taxpayers money, a new report has found.

The Commonwealth Auditor-General – tasked with reviewing the buyback scheme – has found the program was “largely appropriate” but listed a number of concerns prompting immediate action from the Federal Government.

The Auditor — General report released on Thursday raised a number of issues for the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment including:

FRAMEWORKS designed to maximise value for money were not developed;

MEASURES to manage “real or perceived conflicts of interest” need to be addressed;

ARRANGEMENTS in place to support the buybacks were not fully effective;

APPROVED policy, planning and guidance were not consistently applied to the assessment of all buybacks.

Two water licences bought by the government for a total of $80 million in 2017 from a company once associated with Energy Minister Angus Taylor gained significant public and political interest.

The deal was signed off by the then Water Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce.

There is no evidence that Mr Taylor or Mr Joyce have done anything wrong.

But the issue became known as ‘Watergate’ and shone a light on the entire Murray Darling Basin Plan.

Federal public servants tasked with overseeing a $190 million Murray Darling Basin water buyback policy failed to maximise value for taxpayers money, a new report has found. Picture: Matt Loxton

South Australian Senators Rex Patrick, from Centre Allaince, and The Greens’ Sarah Hanson-Young said the report highlighted their long-held concerns about the program were correct.

Federal Water Minister Keith Pitt said the report “confirms that all of the strategic water purchases made by the department were at or below independent market valuations and that there is no suggestion of any wrong doing.”

“However, the report is critical of some aspects of the department’s administration of the purchases and I have directed officials to take immediate steps to address those issues,” he said.

State environment Minister David Speirs also welcomed the findings acknowledging it showed some improvements could be made.

“I support anything that improves transparency and information sharing with issues around the Murray-Darling Basin.”

Opposition environment spokeswoman Susan Close said the report was “more evidence of the reckless approach by the Liberals in Canberra to managing the Murray Darling Basin.”