Sir Angus Houston appointed as chairman of the Murray Darling Basin Authority

Former head of the ADF Sir Angus Houston has been appointed as chairman of the Murray Darling Basin Authority.

Former ADF chief Sir Angus Houston. Picture: Ray Strange

Former head of the Australian Defence Force Sir Angus Houston has been appointed as chairman of the Murray Darling Basin Authority.

The body administers the Murray Darling Basin Plan, an agreement struck between the federal and state governments to manage the health of the water system that spans four states and one territory, as well as water-sharing arrangements.

Air Chief Marshal Houston served more than four decades in the Australian Defence Force and spent six years as chief of the Defence Force and four years as chief of the Air Force before ­retiring in 2011.

Water Minister Keith Pitt said Sir Angus’s experience would be “exceptionally useful” in developing a sense of shared purpose between the various factions in the basin that often don’t see eye-to-eye.

“This is a critical time for the Murray Darling Basin Plan, and I have no doubt that the authority will benefit from Sir Angus’s strong leadership and strategic capability,” Mr Pitt said.

“I can think of no one better qualified to lead the authority and to build strong and collaborative relationships with stakeholders than Sir Angus. I have every confidence that his experience in defending Australia and our national interests will be exceptionally useful in ­developing a sense of shared purpose.”

An interim report from the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission last month found the Murray-Darling Basin’s water market was riven by distrust and ran with almost no oversight.

It called for sweeping reforms and a full federal takeover, ­declaring that the river system’s murky water market lacked basic financial regulations and created the risk of major market manipulation, giving unfair advantage to large corporate traders over smaller farmers.