The Murray-Darling - predictions of a fiasco about to unfold

Here are my predictions of the unintended consequences that will occur if the Greens get their way.

Water cuts will lead to thousands of job losses, business closures and a fall in food production. Greens will blame "greedy banks" for business bankruptcies.

One Green apparently stated that instead of growing our own food, we should just import "cheap rice" from Asia. Their usual hatred of "globalisation" will be forgotten in their desire to replace locally grown rice with globally sourced rice.

With a fall in food production, food costs will increase. The Greens will blame "greedy farmers" for increased prices, not a reduction in supply.

Cheap rice will be imported, but the Greens will complain that Asian farmers are not being paid enough for it (at the same time as complaining that local farmers are being paid too much), and demand that we pay a "fair trade" price for rice.

Rice prices will go up to "fair trade" prices. The Greens will then complain about the impact of rising food costs on the poor. The Greens (and ACOSS) will demand higher dole payments or food subsidies. It will be lost on them that the poor and unemployed were previously farmers on the Murray-Darling, or business owners in the major towns.

Rural job losses will lead to migration to the cities. The Greens will then complain that there are too many people in the cities, and that we should encourage jobs in country areas. Creating jobs will require subsidies, so taxes will have to go up.

Greens are drawn from the wealthiest segment of the population. They will predictably scream the loudest when tax increases are mooted, or they will get stuck into tax avoidance schemes. The increased tax burden will predictably fall on middle Australia, as the Greens cry out for higher taxes, then pay their accountants and lawyers to avoid paying them.

At the end of all this, the Greens will fail to comprehend that all of this is their fault.