South Australia’s Commissioner for the River Murray

A healthy, living and sustainable River Murray is vital to the future of South Australia. Long described as our lifeblood, the Murray is key to the social, economic and environmental well-being of the State and to the people, the communities, industries and the natural habitats and species that rely on it.

Despite recent flooding across the Murray-Darling Basin, long-term issues still need to be permanently addressed – such as the over-allocation of water, barriers to environmental flows getting into floodplains and wetlands and almost continual dredging of the Murray Mouth.

As part of its March 2022 election commitments, the South Australian Government promised to appoint an eminent jurist as Commissioner for the River Murray. On 23 August 2022 Mr Richard Beasley SC commenced in this role.

Mr Beasley is an experienced and highly-regarded barrister, selected by his peers for inclusion as one of The Best Lawyers in Australiain the fields of Government Practice and Planning and Environmental Law.

He has assisted numerous Royal Commissions and Public Inquiries as Senior Counsel, including the Murray-Darling Basin Royal Commission in 2018-2019 and the Inquiry into the Ruby Princess.

In addition to his extensive legal career, Mr Beasley is a noted author of five fiction novels. He also authored the non-fiction work Dead in the Water – a very angry book about our greatest environmental catastrophe … the death of the Murray-Darling Basin. This book has been described as provocative and a personal battle cry to save the Murray.

As Commissioner, Mr Beasley will:

• Advocate for the health of the Murray, the Lower Lakes and the Coorong. This may include engaging with media, key stakeholders, jurisdictional ministers and the Murray-Darling Basin Authority Board.
• Assist in securing the delivery of the final 450 gigalitres of water recovery required to achieve an Environmentally Sustainable Level of Take as proposed by the Water Act 2007 and the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
• Assist the South Australian Government in improving the transparency of information provided about the management of the Murray and the communication of River Murray-related outcomes, directions and issues.
• Provide strategic advice to the South Australian Government on matters relating to the implementation of the Murray-Darling Basin Plan.
• Prepare an annual report following the completion of each water year (30 June) that describes the health of the River Murray in South Australia, achievements from the reporting period, key priorities for the coming period and key activities undertaken by the Commissioner.

The Department for Environment and Water is supporting Mr Beasley in this part-time role.

Any enquiries for Mr Beasley relevant to the Commissioner’s role can be directed to DEW.RiverMurrayCommissioner@sa.gov.au