Comedy film maker Rob Sitch: linked to Murray River water speculator

Filmmaker Rob Sitch has been linked to a Murray Darling Basin water market speculator, which has struck a multimillion-dollar deal selling irrigation entitlements to the Federal Government.

Rob Sitch owns a quarter of the shares on issue in Taverners (Aust) Pty Ltd, a trust that through a chain of companies holds half the shares in the Aware Water Group.

Filmmaker and comedian Rob Sitch has been linked to a Murray Darling Basin water market speculator, which has struck a multimillion-dollar deal selling irrigation entitlements to the Federal Government.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission records show the Utopia star owns a quarter of the shares on issue in Taverners (Aust) Pty Ltd, a trust that through a chain of companies holds half the shares in the Aware Water Group.

AWG general manager Lewis Campbell confirmed the group owns upwards of 40,000 megalitres of Murray Darling Basin irrigation entitlements, which water brokers estimate is worth $200 million or more.

But Mr Campbell refused to detail how much or the type of irrigation entitlement the company held, stating he was under instruction not to reveal details of the company’s water holdings, but was aware “Taverners” owned half the company.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission records shows Mr Sitch is linked to the Aware Water Group, through a chain of holding companies.

Mr Sitch holds five of the 20 shares on issue in Taverners (Aust) Pty Ltd, which in turn owns all 9.4 million shares on issue in Taverners Holdings, which owns all shares in Taverners No.7, which in turn holds 500 of the 1000 shares on issue in the Aware Water Holdings - which owns all shares in the Aware Water Group.

Mr Sitch said Taverners Holdings had assets that were held under a deed, which was overseen by Taverners (Aust) as the trustee of that deed.

He said Taverners’ (Aust) actions were made in accordance with the deed and as a trustee it had no investments nor is it the beneficiary of any.

“It acts (as) a fiduciary to a set of family companies and I’m an independent director. In this role I also have no investments.”

But Mr Sitch still has powers as a director and owner of a quarter of the shares in Taverners (Aust) in regard to how the trust oversees the deed.

A Taverners Group spokeswoman said the ultimate beneficial owner and beneficiary of Taverners Holdings (Aust) Pty was Australian investor and businessman Peter Scanlon.

The Aware Water Group has been accumulating irrigation entitlements on its licenses since it was formed in mid-2015, recently selling a parcel of NSW water entitlements to the Federal Government for $6.24m.

The NSW Water Register shows AWG sold 567.5ML to the federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water in January for $11,000/ML - at a premium of 22 per cent above the market price of $9000/ML.

The sale formed part of the Albanese Government’s controversial bid to buy more water out of irrigation communities to boost the Murray Darling Basin’s environmental flows, on top of the 2.1 million megalitres already recovered.